…By Joseph Benjamin for TDPel Media.
The Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, expressed his approval of the presidential election tribunal’s ruling against the request for the live broadcast of its proceedings.
Keyamo, who served as the chief spokesperson for the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign organization, stated that emotions and sentiments have no place in the realm of law.
The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja dismissed a request to televise its daily proceedings on petitions challenging the 2023 presidential election results.
This decision was made by Justice Haruna Tsammani’s five-member panel, who deemed the application lacking in merit.
The court clarified that no existing regulatory framework or policy permitted the approval of such a request.
It emphasized that allowing cameras in the courtroom requires proper legal backing as a significant judicial policy.
Justice Tsammani declared that the court could not allow the dramatization of their proceedings.
The court further argued that the request did not pertain to any relief sought in the petitions and was primarily based on sentimental claims of public interest.
It highlighted that the petitioners failed to demonstrate how televising the proceedings would benefit their case.
Initially, presidential candidates Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) requested live coverage, asserting that the case was of immense national concern and public interest.
However, both President-elect Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) urged the court to dismiss the application, labeling it an abuse of the legal process.
In the end, the court dismissed the request on Monday.
In response, Keyamo took to Twitter and wrote, “The law does not admit to emotions and sentiments.
We shall continue to educate them.”