NBA Gives Reasons For Demanding Live Broadcast Of Presidential Election Proceedings

The National Executive Council(NEC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has revealed why it is calling for the live broadcast of the Presidential Election Petition Court sittings following petitions challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission’s declaration of Bola Tinubu as president-elect.

The NBA-NEC held its quarterly meeting in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State on 23 March 2023.

At the sidelines, its president, Yakubu C. Maikyau SAN said the live broadcast of the cases will help in “providing public access to the proceedings would meet the aspirations of the public to participate in the process.”

A number of senior lawyers have backed that call as well even though no date has been fixed to start sitting on the petitions filed by the presidential candidates of the Labour party and the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, including two other political parties.

But in its communique made available to THE WHISTLER on Thursday by the NBA National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Habeeb Lawal, the association’s leadership believes that the general public is losing faith in the judiciary and the live broadcast will help it regain public trust.

It further explained that the live broadcast will help in creating a better perception of the judiciary.

THE WHISTLER reports that international observers had described the 2023 presidential election as one that lacked “transparency” due to INEC’s failure to immediately upload election results in realtime.

There is also the controversy over the implication of a candidate not winning 25% of the votes from the Federal Capital Territory.

NEC also said it would help Nigerians need to know firsthand the interpretation of relevant laws by the judges.

“In view of the fact that public perception of the judiciary plays a key role in the public acceptance of its decisions, and to help boost the confidence of the public in the judiciary, which is currently at an all-time low, NEC, upon the proposal by the President, unanimously passes the resolution calling for live broadcast of the proceedings of the election petition courts and tribunals, particularly for the presidential election, by volunteering media houses.

“This will give citizens the opportunity to follow the proceedings, have better knowledge of the facts and an understanding of the reasoning behind decisions of the courts in those matters, particularly how the Electoral Act and other applicable laws are applied to election petition matters,” the communique partly read.