The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) on Monday in Abuja dismissed the request by the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for the live stream of proceedings of his petition against the election and the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the last presidential election.
The Court dismissed the case for lack of merit in a unanimous judgement made by the Court’s Chairman, Justice Haruna Simon.
The court ruled that while the motion was new, it was not backed by any legislation in the country at the time.
The five-member panel stated that the request was unrelated to the plea Atiku filed with the court.
Justice Tsammani also said that the request was capable of turning the court into a stadium or market square and that such a change must not be allowed for now.
Besides, Justice Tsammani held that granting a live telecast of the proceedings of the plea would not add any totalitarian value to the petition.
Justice Tsammani 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.
Atiku and the PDP specifically prayed to the tribunal in the application for “an order directing the court’s registry and the parties on modalities for admission of media practitioners and their equipment into the courtroom.”
