JUST IN: Presidential Election Tribunal rejects live coverage of proceedings

On Monday in Abuja, the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, denied the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, a request for live streaming of proceedings in his petition against the election and declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner of the last presidential election.

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The Court ruled that the request was innovative and, for the time being, unsupported by any law in the country.

The Court’s Chairman, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, who delivered the panel’s unanimous ruling, stated that the request was unrelated to the petition Atiku brought before the Court.

Justice Tsammani further stated that the motion had the potential to turn the court into a stadium or market square, which must be denied for the time being.

Furthermore, Justice Tsammani ruled that enabling live telecast of the petition’s hearings would not add any totalitarian value to the plea.

Finally, Justice Tsammani ruled that the petition lacked merit and rejected it.

Because of the colossal nature of his appeal, Atiku requested that the court considering his challenge against the outcome of the February 25 presidential elections allow live streaming of the day-to-day proceedings.

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In their motion, Atiku and the PDP expressly requested that the tribunal issue “an order directing the Court’s Registry and the parties on modalities for admission of Media Practitioners and their Equipment into the courtroom.”