The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the re-trial of the election petitions of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidates in Benue and Akwa Ibom States.

The cases involved Steve Ugbah and John Akpanudedehe respectively.

Ugba is contesting the victory of Governor Gabriel Suswam in the April 26 elections while Akpanudedehe is challenging that of Godswill Akpabio in Akwa Ibom.

The petitions alleged that the elections in the two states were fraught with irregularities.

In a unanimous verdict read by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher, on behalf of the five-member panel, the apex Court upturned the decisions of the Court of Appeal which dismissed the petitions on technical ground.

The Supreme Court held that the petitions could not have been dismissed on mere technicalities, pointing out that pre-hearing notice can be done orally.

Ordering that the petitions should be heard on its merit, Justice Musdapher 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,” he added.