The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja turned down the request by the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar for the live streaming of proceedings of his petition against the election and declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner of the last presidential election.
The Court held that the request was new and not supported with any law in the country for now.
Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, who delivered the unanimous decision of the panel, said the request was not rooted from the petition Atiku filed before the Court.
Justice Tsammani also said that the request was capable of turning the court to a stadium or market square and that such must not be allowed for now.
The judge finally held that the petition was without merit and subsequently dismissed it.
Atiku had approached the court hearing his case against the outcome of the February 25 presidential polls for an order allowing live broadcast of the day to day proceedings regarding his petition because of its monumental importance.
While the PDP and Labour Party had said the the live telecast of the court sittings would remove any doubts about the transparency of the judiciary and promote fairness, the APC argued that it would not advance the course of justice.
Meanwhile, over 9,222 Nigerians had signed a petition demanding a live broadcast of the tribunal proceedings as of 2.50 pm on Sunday.
The petitioners contended that allowing the live coverage of the proceedings would ensure transparency and openness in the conduct of the tribunal.
