President-elect Bola Tinubu advised the tribunal to reject Atiku Abubakar and the PDP’s live broadcast request as an abuse of the court process.
Tinubu and his vice, Kashim Shettima, asked the court to reject the application because “the court is not a rostrum or a soapbox and not also a stadium or theatre.” It’s not a “public” venue.”
Wole Olanipekun, their principal counsel, responded to Atiku’s application. In their counter-affidavit, Tinubu and Shettima contended that the election tribunal had no jurisdiction over policy development matters.
The application also addresses the Constitution’s powers and jurisdiction granted to the President of the Court of Appeal, which this honourable court cannot consider.
“The application involves administrative functions that are unique to the Court of Appeal President. The application wastes this court’s time, and the petitioners’ petition before this court is unrelated to the application. “This honourable court should dismiss the petitioners’ application in the interest of justice,” they stated.
Tinubu also criticised him for failing to mention that courts issued practice directives for virtual proceedings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This odd application invites the court to issue an order it cannot supervise. The law endures, and we believe that the court, like nature, does not make an unenforceable order. At best, this application is academic, very otiose, very superfluous, very time-wasting, most unusual and most unexpected, particularly from a set of petitioners who should be pleading for the prompt trial of their petition.”
Petitioners filed under Section 36(3) of the Constitution, which mandates public court proceedings.
The application filed on their behalf by their team of lawyers led by Chief Chris Uche states, among other things, that: The matter before the Honourable Court is a dispute over the outcome of the presidential election held on 25th February 2023, a matter 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 said election and the inter-state relations.
