Election Tribunal: Why It’s Important For The Court Trial To Be Shown Live On National TV – Dr Sam Amadi

A renowned Nigerian lawyer, and political analyst, Dr. Sam Amadi has given reasons why the court proceedings on the case between Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressives Congress’ president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the outcome of the just-concluded presidential elections must be beamed live on national television for Nigerians to see.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE TV, Dr Amadi argued that for a judiciary that has seemingly lost its credibility in the eyes of the public especially when it comes to election matters, live transmission of the presidential election tribunal case might be the only it can douse the tension that is building around the country over such a very delicate matter.

The renowned lawyer stressed further, went down memory lane nearly two decades ago, to recall how the National Assembly under the leadership of Senate President Ken Nnamani managed to save its reputation by allowing Nigerians to watch the legislative debate on the contentious third-term agenda of the Obasanjo administration.

He said; “One thing the court must do in this case presidential election petition is to build public trust. And when the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) talked about the live transmission of the court proceedings, I think it is very important. Let me give an example; the third-term agenda in parliament, when there were moves to give President Obasanjo a third term in office. One of the things that saved us was that the National Assembly under Senate President Ken Nnamani instituted an open hearing.

So people were tuning in and hearing how the various Senators argued on the issue. And when the proposed third-term Bill died, especially when there were rumors of a 50 million Naira bribe for each lawmaker, that open hearing, however, helped to douse the tension around the country. So, people were able to see the transparency of the process. One of the lessons we learned then was that a lot of times, due process is far more important than the outcome. Meaning that it is not about the person the court affirms to have won the election, but is about the perception of the public toward the process and transparency that led that judgment.”

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