NBA President wants Presidential Tribunal proceedings televised live

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN, has appealed to the judiciary to allow proceedings at the 2023 Presidential Election Petition Tribunal be broadcast live to Nigerians.

Maikyau believes this move is necessary for the interest of openness, transparency, and justice, and will also boost citizens' trust and confidence in the judiciary, Daily Trust reports.

The NBA President, while making the argument on Friday, March 24, 2023, emphasised that a live telecast is in the interest of the Nigerian people, as Section 36 (1) and (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has already provided that judicial proceedings should be conducted in public.

“Providing public access to the proceedings would meet the aspirations of the public to participate in the process,” Maikyau was quoted as saying.

Pulse reports that candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, have separately approached the tribunal to challenge the result of the February 25, 2023, presidential election that produced Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.

There have been controversies surrounding the conduct of the election as the two main opposition parties have accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of violating the law by failing to transmit results electronically before calling a winner.

Other allegations against the commission include the claim that the President-elect didn't meet all the constitutional requirements to be declared winner as he failed to get up to 25% of votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).