Femi Falana (SAN), a human rights attorney, has supported proposals for the presidential election tribunal proceedings to be broadcast live on television.
He said this while answering questions on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics in response to Yakubu Maikyau, the national president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), calling for the live broadcast of the tribunal’s proceedings.
While stressing that televising the sessions will boost judicial credibility, Falana agreed that such a measure will promote the judiciary and make the process public and feels that it merits consideration from the authorities.
“I have always campaigned for that and that is the trend in Africa. In Ghana and Kenya, the proceedings are televised because judges should have nothing to hide. They should invite the media and the members of the public,” he said.
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“Once there is order in the court, everybody should be part of it. We are all part of the election and so the decision of the court on the election should not be shrouded in secrecy.”
“It is in the interest of our judges, and the public. And again, it enhances the credibility of the judiciary,” Falana added.
“I am very sure that the suggestion will be seriously considered.”
Falana also addressed the controversy surrounding the need that a candidate receive at least 25% of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in order to be elected president, claiming that Abuja is thought of as Nigeria’s 37th state.
He asserted: “I had expressed an opinion on section 134 of the Constitution on the 23rd of January this year – that is about a month before the presidential election. On that occasion, I expressed a legal opinion and that is why I was very hesitant to join the bandwagon when lawyers started to give political interpretations of that section.
“I did state that there is no electoral college in Nigeria and therefore the votes cast or recorded in any part of the country are equal. Section 134 of the Constitution specifically requires a winner of a presidential election to meet certain requirements. The first one is to score the majority of lawful votes and the second is territorial spread, a two-thirds majority of the states and the Federal Capital Territory,” he noted.
“And since the FCT has been interpreted to be a 37th state in Nigeria for the purpose of the constitution I didn’t see any controversy at the material time and that was when I expressed my opinion
“But now that it has become a serious legal issue and the matter is now pending in court, I am very reluctant to speak definitively on the section because there are decisions of the court on the status of Abuja.”
