Lawyers representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Kashim Shetima at the Presidential Election Petition Court have been banned from talking to the media about issues before the tribunal.
Specifically, they are no longer allowed to grant press interviews.
While addressing the court on Tuesday, counsel for the APC, Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), threatened to expel any team member that violates the directive.
The APC and Tinubu legal team consist of 38 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, with a horde of junior lawyers to assist. They have all consistently declined media interviews since the proceedings began.
On Tuesday, however, Chief Akintola, who leads the APC legal team, said in court that, unlike the petitioners who speak to the media after each day’s proceeding, they, as respondents, have taken a collective decision against talking to the media.
Justices of the tribunal had said that they see more lawyers in the case on TV than the reporters covering the tribunal.
They also advised the legal teams to reduce the number of lawyers they bring to court.
“Allow TV reporters do their work”, one of the judges said
