Judicial functions crippled in Cross River as lawyers lament lack of authority to assign cases

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Judicial functions crippled in Cross River as lawyers lament lack of authority to assign cases

Official functions in the Cross River State Judiciary have been crippled as there is no State Chief Judge to assign cases to various courts and Judges in the State since the tenure of the acting Chief Judge expired five days ago.

Speaking with WAPLOADED via phone on Tuesday, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Calabar Branch, Dr. Paul O. Ebiala regretted the non-appointment of substantive State Chief Judge.

He said the absence of the Chief Judge of the State portends danger and not a healthy development for the state.

He noted that it was unprecedented in the history of the Judiciary in Cross River State to be without a Chief Judge

“The absence of the Judiciary in Cross River State is like shutting down the system completely, it is just like having a State but no Governor.

“A State that has no governor is shut down completely, the Judiciary that has no Chief Judge is also shut down completely. A similar thing applies to the House of Assembly.

“In the case of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, we have a Deputy Speaker and we also have a Deputy Governor but in the case of Chief Judge, there is no Deputy,” he said.

“Once the Chief Judge is not there, the entire activities of Judiciary are crippled, we talk about the assignment of cases, there will be nobody to assign cases, nobody to attend to official or administrative matters