JUST IN: Cross River Assembly Makes U-Turn After 322 Days, Confirms Justice Akon Ikpeme

By CrossRiverWatch Admin

322 days after refusing to confirm her as the substantive Chief Judge of the High Court of Cross River State, the House of Assembly has confirmed the recommendation of Justice Akon Ikpeme.

Hope Obeten, Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Assembly, Eteng Jones disclosed this on Facebook.

The State has gone 427 days without a substantive Chief Judge and this confirms an earlier report by CrossRiverWatch that Justice Ikpeme would soon be confirmed.

The National Judicial Council is said to have insisted on her after Justice Effiom Eyo-Ita’s acting tenure elapsed in the midnight of January 18, 2021.

Justice Eyo-Ita was the third person to be sworn-in, in acting capacity after Governor Ben Ayade’s preferred nominee, Justice Maurice Eneji who served two acting tenures and Justice Ikpeme.

When asked when the new CJ stopped being a security threat as was initially alleged, Speaker of the House, Hon. Eteng Jones, told CrossRiverWatch that: “The House of Assembly never said she was a security threat. We never did.”

Stakeholders had spanked the Assembly severally for refusing to confirm her for “security reasons”.