The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has explained why it denied a request from Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party to broadcast its proceedings in real time.
According to the Daily Trust, Justice Haruna Tsammani ruled that court proceedings cannot be televised because the court lacks the authority to do so under the country’s constitution.
Justice Tsammani elaborated, stating that the PEPT panel has no jurisdiction outside of presidential cases and that the question of broadcasting court sessions is a matter of policy.
According to him, “the powers are not resided hereon,” and neither is the practise of broadcasting judicial proceedings on television. This PEPT panel has the authority to hear solely presidential cases. Broadcasting is a policy issue.
Remember that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi, presidential candidate for the Labour Party (LP), asked for court hearings to be broadcast live. But whatever the outcome, Nigerians are waiting patiently to find out.
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