Bickering in Cross River judiciary over appointment of administrative judge

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Bickering in Cross River judiciary over appointment of administrative judge

 

A high level of bickering has allegedly rocked the Calabar Division of the High Court over a move to appoint an administrative Judge following the retirement of the substantive administrative Judge.

Hon Justice Emilia Okon Ibok has retired and the next Judge was to be appointed immediately but a high level of bickering has allegedly stalled the new appointment.

Upon the retirement of Justice Emilia, controversy has ensued as to who takes over from her in the Calabar Judicial Division of the High Court of Cross River State.

We gathered that Hon. Justice Akon B. Ikpeme who should have taken over from her was alleged to have been involved in bribery scandal as alleged by Senator Smart Adeyemi in an election matter.

Hon Justice Akon Ikpeme, it was learnt was a Judge of the High Court of Cross River State and was appointed to head a panel of the National/State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal of Kogi State that sat in Lokoja.

Dissatisfied with the result as declared by INEC, Hon Smart Adeyemi filed a petition no EPT/KG/NASS/SEN.04/2015 at the election tribunal. The contest was between him (Smart) and Sen. Dino Melaye.

The tribunal delivered judgment in favour of Sen. Melaye and the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of the tribunal. Sen Adeyemi, however, alleged that Hon Justice Ikpeme collected bribe from Sen Melaye and delivered judgment in favour of the senator.

But a senior member of the Bar, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mba Ekpezu Ukweni said in an interview that, “Sometime in 2017, a video was circulated about Hon. Justice Ikpeme by Sahara Reporters and petitions were subsequently written and submitted to the National Judicial Council (NJC).

“The Panel duly and meticulously investigated the complaints and found them to be false and unfounded. The Panel submitted its report to NJC and the Council found that the petitions lacked merit and that the petitioners could not produce evidence to substantiate them, thereby leaving the allegations against the subject Judge unproved.”

He said with the retirement of Hon Justice Emilia Okon Ibok, Hon Justice Akon Ikpeme is the next in command and she has to take over the office of the Administrative Judge, the second after His Lordship, Justice, Hon Michael Edem.

“Yes, our Chief Judge, His Lordship, Justice Hon Michael Edem gave indication at the pull-out ceremony of Hon Justice Emilia Ibok, specifically at the Special Court Session that he would be due for retirement in November 2019.

“By our Constitution, tradition in the legal profession and rules of practice, it is the most senior Judge that will take over from the Chief Judge upon his retirement, first in an acting capacity, pending when the Governor will make a formal appointment.

“It is provided for in Section 271(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). That is not an issue for debate. The profession does not tolerate a deviation from the practice,” he stated.

Consequently, on the issue of marriage, Mba Ukweni said, “Hon Justice Akon was born here, married a Cross Riverian and bore her children here. Her father was the permanent secretary in Cross River and retired here.

“When Hon Justice Akon Ikpeme finished her School, she was employed by the Cross River State Ministry of Justice where she rose to a position of a Director of Public Prosecution and from there she was appointed a Judge of Cross River State Judiciary.

“Our rules allow women to choose where to work, she can choose to work in Akwa Ibom State, or choose to work at where her husband comes from, Cross River or work at where her mother was from. These are the things put in place so the Justices may not be over discriminated,” the SAN stated.

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Abducted Cross River broadcaster yet to be freed for over three months

CRIME NEWS

Abducted Cross River broadcaster yet to be freed for over three months

 

A seasoned broadcaster, working with the Cross River State Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC) Radio/TV services, Mr Peter Etim aka ‘godfather’ who was abducted over three months ago is yet to regain his freedom.

Mr Etim was kidnapped in the early hours of Friday in the month of February while going to work at the station IBB in Calabar, Cross River State capital. The victim was abducted in front of his house by unknown gunmen before 6am.

A staff of the station who pleaded for anonymity said “He was the one on morning duty the day he was kidnapped. Suspected kidnappers captured him while he drove out of his house in Calabar South local government area of Cross River State.

Speaking with newsmen on Thursday, the General Manager (GM) of Sparkling FM, Mr Effiong Nyong lamented the situation and said, “I am yet to ascertain that he is dead. I wish he is alive, over 3 Months in the kidnapper’s dane, no serious talk about him, no serious talk regarding his sudden disappearance.

“I fear for this society, I fear for us all, I fear for the children that are coming up. ‘It is sad, it is unfortunate, it’s condemnable, it is shocking, that could happen before our eyes and we are all watching very helplessly.

“I expect his family to raise their voices, I expect the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to raise their voices, I expect RATAWU to raise their voices, I expect where he works, CRBC to raise their voices, unfortunately, I have not heard anything at all, it’s sad”.

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Cross Rivers Micro-finance Bank Opens Soon - Gov. Ayade

​BREAKING NEWS

Cross Rivers Micro-finance Bank Opens Soon - Gov. Ayade

The Cross River State government has announced that its micro-finance bank will soon become operational.

The state governor, Prof Ben Ayade stated this during the inspection of the office complex, along with the Branch Controller, Central Bank of Nigeria, Calabar, Sampson Isuwa and the CBN Head, Development Finance office, Dr. Aniefiok Akpan Umoren.

The bank is being established to boost agriculture in the state.

The Governor said “the only way agriculture can be exciting for young people is to go digital and professional that is why in Cross River, we are taking our time to be the largest rice producers in Africa.

“We have set up the first rice and seedling plant in Africa, we are going into massive and expansive cultivation of rice but to do all of that, we also need a backbone.”

He explained that “Cross River is now supporting CBN and federal government with a state microfinance bank and we are hoping that our date of April 27 as the commissioning date has to be sacrosanct.”

“We have invited the CBN governor who will be here in person. When you ask young men to go into farming, where are they going to get the resources?” Ayade asked rhetorically.

He intimated that although Central Bank of Nigeria provides a facility with a minimal repay period, he has set aside the sum of N500million which will be available to the microfinance bank on the commissioning date when it will open for operations.

He said “The money is set aside for civil servants who want to go into farming, be it must be one, two or three hectares.”

Prof Ayade pointing out that as part of his administration’s efforts to boost farming, which is the right road map for Africa and indeed Nigeria, “the state also has an agricultural development company whose business is to provide agricultural services with an extension service arm.”

Other ventures the governor disclosed would support the agricultural value chain include the white collar farming which allows one the luxury of being a farmer, yet preserves his or her dignity as an educated person.

“As most people think that the university certificate can no longer put their houses on the ground, including the introduction of what he termed, food on the table, hands on the plough.

“In Nigeria, we have land, we are looking for farmers. We have farmers they are looking for money; we have money we
are looking for interest.

“Why would a developing economy that understands that they want to move people away from oil to agriculture still want to put a single digit interest rate in a very short gestation period in an agricultural facility? Again, that makes it difficult, so it is the microfinance bank that will underpin it with the support from Central Bank of Nigeria.”

For Sampson Suwanee, CBN branch controller, “the Prof Ben Ayade-led administration has demonstrated its resolve to create employment for the teeming unemployed youths in the state.”

He added that, “CBN is running after Ayade because of the agricultural program as we want all to bank and access credit facilities.”

Suwanee said “The only way to achieve this is to ensure that we open microfinance bank branches as there are many places across the state that doesn’t have banks. This will help them access credit and pay back.

“The governor’s zeal to make sure that this state is number one is something that we are very happy with. Let us be much stronger in food production that is the only way we can have economic development in this country.”

On his part, Dr Umoren who heads CBN Development Finance office maintained that “we are happy with Ayade for adding value to the economy of the state, creating different clusters across the state to encourage youths to go into farming of crops.”

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Cross Revers SUBEB Demotes Head Teacher Over Forgery

​BREAKING NEWS

Cross Revers SUBEB Demotes Head Teacher Over Forgery

 

The Head teacher of Obanjom Memorial Primary School, Ugep, Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River Mr. Obongho Linus Ikpi has been demoted to a classroom teacher.

His demotion was ordered by the Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board (CR-SUBEB) for payslip forgery.

The payslip was purportedly forged to enable the suspect access computer allocation from the Head of Service.

“SUBEB checked records and discovered that the alleged deduction in the payslip was not recorded there. Upon further interrogation, Ikpi confessed to having forged the payslip,” a source said.

Confirming the forgery, the Executive Chairman of SUBEB, Dr Stephen Odey who expressed disappointment over the incident said, “This man came to my payroll unit with this payslip claiming that some money was deducted from his salary for Computer and when he went to Head of service to collect the computer, they told him to come here for refunds because the money he was claiming wasn’t remitted to them from SUBEB.”

Odey said the demotion of the suspect was to serve as deterrent to others.

“To serve as a deterrent, we have decided to demote and suspend him while investigations continue. We have directed that the Executive Secretary should inform the deputy to take over as head teacher with immediate effect”, Odey said.

Warning Teachers to desist from all forms of criminality, Odey said the eagle eye of the Board was upon them.

“We are setting an eagle eye on teachers because from what he told us, we believe strongly that others have either attempted to do this or are doing this”, he said.

In his confessional Statement, Ikpi said, “I doctored pay advice for the month of January 2018 with an amount of three thousand six hundred and ninety-five naira for collection of computer equipment from Head of Service. The act was discovered by SUBEB payroll staff”.

He however appealed to the Board for forgiveness.

“I am pleading that I should be forgiven for such obnoxious behaviour. It will never happen again,” he appealed.

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