The Presidential Election Petition Court on Monday in Abuja, dismissed the application by the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, and the Labour Party for live broadcast of court proceedings.
The Court held that the request was a novel and not supported with any law in the country for now.
The five-member panel held that the order sought by the petitioners lacked merit and was outside the scope of the petition.
The judges held that televising of proceedings was not provided for in any law. They held that the court was created by the constitution and operated under the law by the Court of Appeal.
Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, who delivered the unanimous decision of the panel, 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.
Justice Tsammani held that granting live telecast of the proceedings of the petition would not add any totalitarian value to the petition.
He said: “The court was created to hear and determine the petitions before it and cannot act as an avanguard.
“The undue pressure of allowing cameras into the courtroom should be avoided as the impact it would have on witnesses could not be predicted.
“The court is created to find out the truth and should be allowed to do so”.
Tsammani finally held that the petition was without merit and subsequently dismissed it.
Credible News recalls that the PDP, in an application, specifically prayed 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”.
