Judex Okoro, Calabar
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Calabar branch, has taken a swipe at Governor Ben Ayade’s purported inauguration of a new Cross River State Judicial Service Commission (CRSJSC), describing it as unconstitutional.
Ayade and state judiciary have been engaged in a battle of words for over a year culminating into the dissolution of the JSC shortly after his second term inauguration.
The governor, against all entreaties, on Monday, inaugurated a five-man member JSC, including Obojor-Ogar (retd), Ntufam Joe Ebam, Teresa Ikwen and Tasen Etum Okune even as the Chief Judge, Justice Michael Edem, and other senior judges walked out in protest.
Piqued by the governor’s action, the NBA, after its emergency meeting in October 29, further described the governor’s action as an attempt to destroy the judiciary, adding that once the judiciary is destroyed, the last hope of the common man is gone.
In a statement by Paul Ebiala and Effiom Ayi, chairman and secretary respectively, the association maintained that the purported inauguration of ‘new’ members of the CRSJSC by Governor Ayade, “is illegal and a grave infraction of the provisions of Section 197(i)(c), 198,199(c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as Sections 2, 4, 5 of the JSC Law, Cap 12. Vol 4 of the Laws of CRS, 2004.”