Even as the constitutionally stipulated 180-day period for the determination of all governorship election petitions ends this week, the Supreme Court yesterday ordered the Governorship Election Petition Tribunals sitting in both Benue and Akwa-Ibom States to hear afresh (de novo) the petitions challenging the elections of both Governor Gabriel Suswam and his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Godswill Akpabio.The Supreme Court ruling, handed down by Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Dahiru Musdapher, overruled the decision of the Court of Appeal which struck out the appeals filed by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) challenging the elections of both Suswam and Akpabio in their respective states.The two governors had in separate appeals before the Supreme Court challenged the mode of pre-hearing notices filed before the governorship election petition tribunals by the petitioners in their respective states to initiate the election petitions.Professor Steve Ugba is challenging the declaration of Gabriel Suswam as the Governor of Benue State on the grounds that the April elections were fraught with irregularities and fraud. John Akpanudedehe on the other hand is challenging the victory of Governor Godswill Akpabio on the grounds that it was marred with irregularities.The 5-man Supreme Court panel in a unanimous decision held that the petitions should not have been dismissed on mere technicalities since pre-hearing notice can be done orally. In ordering that the matter be remitted back to the governorship election tribunals for Benue and Akwa-Ibom states for hearing on their merits, the apex court panel said 'the justice of the matter is that the appeals be remitted back for hearing on their merits. I don't know why judges should go on with the basis of pre-hearing conference alone to dismiss a petition without hearing it on its merit. Matters must be decided on their merits.'It is too early for me to start losing my head. What is the difference between a letter or ex-parte motion' Everybody is watching us. I am begging you, in the name of justice, matters should be decided on their merits and not technicalities,' the Chief Justice said.Justice Musdapher also declared that 'our responsibility to whoever comes before us is to do justice without technicalities. Where is justice after the tribunal itself issued the pre-hearing notice, the same tribunal has fixed hearing and after some days, somebody now brought an application for the dismissal of the petition' Where is the justice in that situation' They just want to take an easy way out to finish the matter. We will say no to it. Democracy is the number of people who voted for A or B; let justice be done.He said that counsels had failed to convince the court on why the court should depart from its last week's ruling on the Kebbi governorship election petition, saying the appeal is limited to whether section 47[1] applies in the appeal. Musdapher said 'the appeal succeeds and it is hereby ordered that the tribunal should hear the appeals on their merits de novo (afresh).'It would be recalled that the Courts of Appeal sitting in Makurdi and Uyo had dismissed the petitions of Ugbah and Akpanudedehe on the grounds that their pre-hearing notice was filed ex-parte without the leave of the tribunal. Other members of the panel were Justice Walter Onnoghen, Justice Francis Fabiyi, Justice Adekeye and Justice Mary Odili.Reacting to the decision of the apex court ordering that the petition be heard afresh after the 180 days which expires today, Lagos lawyer and former President of the West African Bar Association [WABA] Mr. Femi Falana said the apex court's decision will have a ripple effect throughout country, because most of the appeals filed by the sitting governors are on technical grounds.On his part, former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Oluwarotimi Akerele SAN said, 'We are sending our judgment to the acting President of the Court of Appeal so he can go back to the Tribunal to reconvene the panel that heard the case so that they can re-commence hearing of the case. The decision of the Supreme Court is clear, so when we get there, the matter will re-commence.
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