The presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just-concluded election, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, May 11, stormed the Presidential Election Petition Court over the hearing of his application for live coverage of proceedings.
Atiku had filed an application for an order to allow the live coverage of the daily court proceedings on the case brought against the election of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, which commenced on Monday, May 8.
The former Vice President arrived the court on Thursday alongside former Governors Liyel Imoke (Cross River) Bonny Haruna (Adamawa), and Babangida Aliyu (Niger).
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Others who accompanied Atiku were former PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, and the party’s governorship candidate in Kogi State, Senator Dino Melaye.
Taking to his Twitter account to announce his presence in court, Atiku said: “I am at the Court of Appeal, the venue of the 2023 Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), to observe the proceedings of today’s hearing.”
Atiku and the PDP are specifically asking the court 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 Chris Uche, SAN, is predicated on the grounds that the matter before the court is a dispute over the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
They argue that the matter is 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 election.
They added that the matter is critical because the international community is also interested as regards the workings of Nigeria’s electoral process.
According to Atiku, 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.
The tribunal will also hear the application by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
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