The Acting Chief Judge of Cross River State, Justice Eyo Efiom Ita, has directed 29 Magistrates who have not been paid their salaries since their appointment in February 2019 to withdraw from sitting in court till further notice.
The directive is contained in a circular dated January 4, 2021, signed by the Chief Registrar, Edem N. Okokon.
But a rights activist and prominent member of the inner bar, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) has lashed out at the acting chief judge accusing him of usurping the powers of the state’s Judiciary Service Commission (JSC)
In the letter which has been sighted by Blueprint, it says:“There is no conscientious reason to have allowed you to work without pay for all this while as you may be tempted to fall into corrupt practices in order to survive.
“There are in fact, a handful of reports already received against some of such Magistrates; hence this directive.” the circular reads in part
The affected Magistrates are therefore advised to “stay at home until the issue of your salaries is resolved.”
In reaction, Femi Falana, SAN, has said that the directive of the Acting CJ is illegal as such is the exclusive power of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
“The act of the Acting CJ is illegal as the JSC is the only competent body to discipline the Magistrates,” he said
He added, “The tenure of the Acting CJ (the 4th so far), expires in 5 days’ time and it is not clear if the Governor Ayade will finally appoint a substantive CJ or reappoint Justice Effiom, in another capacity.”
