By Kenneth Atavti
The Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has adjourned further pre-hearing session in the petitions by Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) to Thursday.
The court, at the conclusion of its sitting on Tuesday, indicated that the petition by APM will be taken by 9am, while that jointly filed by Atiku and the PDP will be taken at 2pm on Thursday respectively.
Justice Tsammani, before adjourning, ordered lawyers to parties in the petition to meet and harmonise their positions in respect of documents to be tendered, those to be objected to and those to be allowed in without objection.
He also ordered them to file their distilled issues for determination in the petitions.
Earlier, lawyer to Atiku and PDP, Chris Uche (SAN) told the court that his clients have filed a motion, seeking to have the proceedings televised.
Lawyers to the respondents – Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) for INEC, Akin Olujinmi (SAN) for Bola Tinubu, and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the APC – said they will file their responses within the time allowed by the rules of the court.
The PDP Candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had approached the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) 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.
Atiku and the PDP in an application dated May 5, is specifically praying the tribunal for “An order Directing the Court’s Registry and the parties on modalities for admission of Media Practitioners and their Equipment into the courtroom.”
The application filed on their behalf by their team of lawyers led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, is predicated amongst other grounds that: The matter before the Honourable Court is a dispute over the outcome of the Presidential Election held on 25th February 2023, a matter of national concern and public interest, involving citizens and voters in the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, who voted and participated in the said election; and the International Community as regards the workings of Nigeria’s Electoral Process”.
They contended that being a unique electoral dispute with a peculiar constitutional dimension, it is a matter of public interest whereof millions of Nigerian citizens and voters are stakeholders with a constitutional right to receive.
“An integral part of the constitutional duty of the Court to hold proceedings in public is a discretion to allow public access to proceedings either physically or by electronic means.
“With the huge and tremendous technological advances and developments in Nigeria and beyond, including the current trend by this Honourable Court towards embracing electronic procedures, virtual hearing and electronic filing, a departure from the Rules to allow a regulated televising of the proceedings in this matter is in consonance with the maxim that justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done.
“Televising court proceedings is not alien to this Honourable Court, and will enhance public confidence.
