By Our Correspondent
Mr. Paul Erokoro, SAN, Counsel to the governor of Cross River State, Senator Ben Ayade has described as ridiculous, any attempt to suggest that the governor forged his age declaration.
In a clarification yesterday by the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, he said, “The suggestion that the Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade forged his Age Declaration is ridiculous. The Governor’s Age Declaration, which he submitted to both his party and INEC, carries his correct date of birth, 2nd March, 1968. His Driver’s Licence, Voters Card, current and old International Passports, all carry that Date of Birth. His records in all the schools he ever attended, including the University of Ibadan and the Nigerian Law School, all carry that same date of birth.
Mr. Erokoro, further accused Mr. Joe Agi, SAN, a former Cross River PDP guber aspirant who dragged the governor to court after the PDP primaries, of being bent on feeding distorted facts to a section of the media in order to scandalize the Governor.
According to him, “Mr. Joseph Agi SAN is not in court about a forged age declaration. He is trying to capitalize on a simple error made by the Governor’s Special Assistant on his nomination form, by writing 1969 instead of 1968. Neither date makes a difference to Prof. Ayade’s qualification for the office of Governor.
“Both PDP and INEC saw it as a trivial error, especially as his Age Declaration attached to the form showed his correct age. Mr. Agi is however bent on feeding distorted facts to a section of the media in order to scandalize the Governor.
“The media should get their information from the correct source, in this case the records of the court. Because the matter is sub judice, media practitioners should also beware of what they publish, lest they risk being in contempt of court.” He said.
Attempts to get reaction from Mr. Joe Agi SAN since yesterday have been futile as calls to his phone keep diverting but a close source who did not want to be named told CrossRiverWatch that, “The matter is in court and Joe Agi, SAN is a very law abiding citizen who will not want to comment on a matter that is sub judice. The court will definitely have a final say on this.”