From Henry Ibya, Makurdi
Benue State government has advised the embattled Chief Judge, Maurice Ikpambese to gather his facts and get prepared to defend himself at the National Judicial Commission, NJC, where a formal petition has been forwarded rather than misinforming the people.
Chief Press Secretary, CPS, to the governor, Tersoo Kula gave the advice yesterday in a statement in reaction to a viral video where Justice Ikpambese, while addressing a group of worshippers allegedly deviated from what he described as grievous allegations levelled against him, which prompted the House of Assembly to pass a resolution that mandated the governor to remove him from office.
He expressed worry that Justice Ikpambese, given his pedigree as a high ranking judicial officer, would choose to peddle falsehood and blackmail against the state government.
“Granted that he is entitled to express himself freely, it is baffling that instead of speaking to the very weighty allegations of misappropriation and mismanagement of the budgetary allocation and finances of the Benue State judiciary to the tune of over N6million, abuse of office by issuing a directive to overturn the Benue State electoral law passed by the House of Assembly and assented to by the governor and engagement with politicians and political office holders for favorable judicial outcomes, he went on the loose to mislead, misinform and deceive his listeners to whip up cheap sympathy,” Kula lamented
Justice Ikpambase, according to Kula, instead of attempting to clear his name on the allegations of undue favoritism and dire insistence on cronies holding unmerited positions in the judiciary, indirect participation and incitement of industrial actions against the state executive and acts of bribery and corruption, misfired by blaming his present ordeal on the constitution of the Local Government Councils Elections Tribunal, describing his position as unacceptable.
According to him, the state government is still strong in the opinion that the Assembly acted in the overall interest of the state and in line with Section 292(1)(a) (ii) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which provides that a chief judge might only be disposed of by the governor, acting on a recommendation supported by two-thirds of the House of Assembly.
