Presdential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party PDP, Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday filed an application for an order to grant access to media personnel for live coverage of the ongoing proceedings at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
The party insisted that the petition against the president-elect, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu was a matter of national concern and public interest and must be treated as such.
Truth Live News recalls that the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC declared Tinubu winner of the presidential election after scoring a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku who polled a total of 6,984,520 votes and Obi who came third with a total of 6,101,533 votes.
In the motion filed by his legal led by Chris Uche, SAN, Atiku applied for “An order directing the Court’s Registry and the parties on modalities for admission of Media Practitioners and their Equipment into the courtroom.
He argued that the case involved citizens and electorates in the 36 states of the Federation who participated in the just concluded presidential polls thus they must not be locked out of the proceedings.
Furthermore, he noted that the international community is interested in Nigeria’s electoral process.
“With the huge and tremendous technological advances and developments in Nigeria and beyond, including the current trend by this 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 court, and will enhance public confidence”,
Similar, they also prayed the court to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Tinubu by the ruling All Progressives Congress, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to him, the decision to declare Tinubu, winner of the presidential election “invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
However replying the petition through his team of lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Tinubu, queried the legal competence of petitions seeking to invalidate his election victory.
In a preliminary objection he entered before the court, Tinubu, described Atiku as a consistent serial loser that had since 1993, crisscrossed different political parties, in search of power.