The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday warned counsels to all the parties against hyping the polity after sittings by making a public analysis of court proceedings in the media.

The five-man tribunal panel has 180 days period from the date of filing of the petition on March 18 to hear and deliver its judgment in the petitions filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as well as three other political parties and their presidential candidates.

They are challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 23 presidential election.

Speaking at the inaugural sitting at the Appeal Court complex, Abuja, Chairman of the five-man tribunal panel, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, noted that proceedings at the tribunal will be treated as any other low profile case, where proceedings in the court are not discussed publicly until a decision is pronounced by the tribunal.

Bukachuwa who is also the President of the Appeal Court assured all stakeholders that each litigant would be given equal opportunity to present his case in a mature manner.

The chairman said that the tribunal will do everything possible to make relevant information available as at when due, adding that, any breach at the tribunal will not be condoned.

She said,

“The independence of the judiciary is the key to any vibrant democracy, especially in the resolution of election petition. Therefore, an independent judiciary is a robust and an indispensable requisite of a free society under the rule of law.

“I wish to use this opportunity to reassure Nigerians and friends of Nigeria, that the the court of Appeal will work accordance and with the dictates of the constitution.

“We therefore require the maximum cooperation of all the stakeholders, especially from the leaders of the Bar.

“We expect the proceedings to be conducted with decorum, a high sense of responsibility, dedication, and patriotism in our quest to arrive at just decisions in all petitions before us.

“We assure all stakeholders that each litigant will be given equal opportunity to present his case in a mature manner before us,’’ she stressed.

The tribunal has, however, fixed May 15 and May 16 for the pre-hearing session in the petitions.

NAN reports that Atiku, PDP and the others, in their various petitions, are seeking the nullification of Buhari’s victory at the Feb. 23 presidential poll on allegations of widespread rigging, violations of the Electoral Act, suppression of voters, violence amongst other electoral malpractices.

Others include: the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) and its presidential candidate, Chief Ambrose Owuru; Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and its presidential candidate, Mr Aminchi Habu and the Coalition for Change (C4C) and its presidential candidate, Jeff Ojinka.

Atiku, in his petition, specifically asked the tribunal to disqualify Buhari as the winner of the February 23 presidential election, on the grounds that he (Buhari) did not possess the requisite academic qualification to contest for the office of President.

The petition, which is premised on five grounds, alleged that Buhari lied about his academic qualification as well as schools attended in his form 001 submitted to INEC for purpose of contesting the 2019 presidential election.

Atiku and PDP had filed their petition against the outcome of the election at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) in Abuja, on March 18, 2019.

NAN