PEPT: Only accredited persons to be allowed in court–Bangari

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
As Nigerians await the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) on Wednesday, September 6, the Court of Appeal has insisted that access to the court premises would be strictly on accreditation.
This was even as the court maintained that only accredited individuals, including counsel and representatives of political parties would be granted access to the courtroom.
The Presidential candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Mr Peter Obi had filed two separate petitions challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu as the winner of February 25, 2023, presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Tinubu polled a total of 8,794,726 votes to emerge winner of the election. He was closely followed by Atiku, who scored 6,984,520 and Obi with 6,101,533 votes to place second and third positions respectively.
But in a statement on Monday in Abuja, the Chief Registrar of the Appellate Court, Mr Umar Bangari stated that the proceedings would be aired live by interested media houses at no cost.
He enjoined interested members of the public to watch the proceedings from their television sets, just as he appealed for maximum cooperation of the general public to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
Bangari said: “The Court of Appeal wishes to inform the General Public that judgment in the following petitions before the Presidential Election Petition Court will be delivered on Wednesday 6th September 2023: CA/PEPC/03/2023 between Mr. Peter Gregory Obi & Anor VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 3 Ors. CA/PEPC/04/2023 between Allied Peoples Movement VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 4 Ors.
“CA/PEPC/05/2023 between Abubakar Atiku & Anor VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 2 Ors. In a bid to promote transparency and openness, these judgments will be televised live by interested Television Stations for the public to follow.”
In addition, judgement is also expected to be delivered by election tribunals in 25 States for governorship, National Assembly, and state assembly election petitions.
The election results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission are also contested in 25 out of the 28 states where elections were conducted.