There was tension in Calabar on Monday as lawyers under the aegis of the Concerned Lawyers in Cross River, staged a peaceful protest and blocked the main entrance to Governor Ben Ayade’s office to demand the appointment of substantive chief judge for the state.
Apart from staging their own protest, students of the University of Calabar (UniCal) and the Cross River University of Technology (CruTech) led by officials of their respective Students Union Governments (SUG), also stormed the Governor’s Office and went a step further to barricade both the main entrance and the Governor’s private entrance.
This practically stopped workers, and indeed everyone from going in or leaving the imposing edifice. They gave both the state and the federal governments a 7-day ultimatum to meet their demands or face mass action.
Our correspondent, who monitored the protest, reported that the Concerned Lawyers began their protest from the Judiciary Headquarters in Calabar and thereafter marched to the Governor’s office to register their rejection of another acting chief judge who was sworn in by the Governor early Monday.
Addressing journalists, spokesman of the Concerned Lawyers, Effiom Ayi, lamented that the Judiciary was being technically crippled over the refusal of the state government to do the right thing, saying they were no longer pleased with the lacuna existing in the state Judiciary.
“It has never happened in the history of the state. Cross River has been enmeshed in a totally avoidable bickering and dirty politics as it concerns the Judiciary. We cannot in all sense of responsibility say that after three hundred and eighteen days (318), Cross River State cannot have a chief judge in substantive capacity.
“As at Friday 16th October 2020, over a hundred cases including fundamental rights action filed by citizens cannot be assigned or heard. Letters of Administration and probate cannot be granted, recommendations for appointment of judges, Senior Advocates of Nigeria and notaries public cannot be issued.
“The negative effect and impact of all these on the security of the state, the economy, practice of legal practitioners and the growth of the legal profession is evidently loud. Never in the history of the state has the Judiciary been enmeshed in this totally avoidable bickering and dirty politics as to who should occupy the office of chief judge”, he said.
