The Presidential Election Petition Court has adjourned the continuation of the pre-hearing of the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, against the “President-elect” Bola Tinubu, of the All Progressive Congress to Thursday, May 18, 2023.
In the petition CA/PEPC/05/2023, the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, are contesting Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election on the grounds that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to electronically upload the election results at the time the winner was declared.
The INEC, Tinubu, and the APC are the petition’s respondents (CA/PEPC/05/2023).
Furthermore, the LP and its candidate, Peter Obi, argued that the ex-Lagos State governor did not receive at least one-quarter of the votes polled in the Federal Capital Territory election.
The PDP and Atiku expressly asked the court for an order directing the court’s registry and the parties on processes for admission of media practitioners and their equipment into the courtroom in their application for a live telecast of the court proceedings.
The application was made by their legal team, led by Chris Uche, SAN, on the grounds that the case before the court was a dispute over the outcome of the presidential election held on February 25, and thus a matter of national significance and public interest.
According to PUNCH, they also claimed that because this was a one-of-a-kind electoral dispute with a peculiar constitutional component, it was a matter of public interest in which millions of Nigerians were stakeholders with a constitutional right to observe the proceedings.
It was reported that the case was pre-heard on Thursday morning after counsel for Atiku and the PDP, Chris Uche SAN, expressed interest in the subject.
Source: Sahara Reporters
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