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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the rejection of its application for a live broadcast of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) proceedings is not a setback.
The tribunal had declined the request by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate for a live broadcast of its proceedings.
Speaking with newsmen after the tribunal’s decision, Eyitayo Jegede, one of the counsels to PDP, said instead of dwelling on the refusal, the party and its candidate are ready for the pre-hearing report.
“There is no setback here. The court, in its wisdom, decided that the subject of our application on the live streaming and open telecast did not, in any way, connect with the merit of our petition.
“The petition is separate, it is ongoing. The application did not succeed to have the televised version of the proceedings.
“As far as we are concerned, we are now set for hearing.
“Tomorrow, we will be here by God’s grace for the pre-hearing report that will determine the progress of the petition and the time the petition will be heard and concluded,” Jegede said.
On whether the party still has confidence in the tribunal, Jegede replied: “For us, we are prepared for hearing.”
Speaking on the merging of all the petitions challenging the election of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, he noted that the issue was compelled by statute, adding that they had no objection to it.