*To Swear In Third In Hierarchy As Acting Chief Judge
After the State had been left without a Chief Judge for the past 47 days, the Governor of Cross Rivers State, Prof. Ben Ayade has disclosed his decision to swear in a new Acting Chief Judge.
This is contained in a press release statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media & Publicity, Christian Ita, which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer.
In the exercise of his powers under section 271 (4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), His Excellency, Professor Ben Ayade will Monday, October 19th, 2020, swear-in a new acting Chief Judge of the state.”
Meanwhile, it was noted that this is pursuant to the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.
“This follows the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC)”, adding that the “event will take place at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Calabar at 8am.”
“All are to be seated before the arrival of the governor”, the statement added.
However, the name of the new Acting Chief Judge to be sworn in was not disclosed in the statement but a source disclosed to TheNigeriaLawyer that the third in rank High Court Judge in the State will be the new Acting Chief Judge to be sworn in.
In addition, from the checks made by TheNigeriaLawyer as at the time of this report, it came to our realization that Hon. Justice Eyo Ita is the third in the hierarchy of the State High Court.
Furthermore, the source stated that the Governor’s decision to do this is based on security reasons, adding that the Acting Chief Judge position will be a rotational occurrence after every three months.
TheNigeriaLawyer recalls that the Eastern Bar Forum (EBF) has earlier announced its decision to stage a protest come October 19, against the non-appointment of a Chief Judge, that left the office vacant for 50 days.
In addition, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, J.S Okutepa has equally supported the move by the EBF to protest, calling on the State Attorney General to equally make his stance known publicly on the issue.
