Benue Chief Judge speaks on faceoff with state Assembly
*Says I remains CJBS
*Alleges assassination plot
By Andrew Oota
The Chief Judge of Benue state , Justice M.A Ikpambese has revealed that his refusal to appoint vulnerable judges to handle the disputed local government elections in the state was responsible for the tension and current happenings in the state .
It would be recalled that the Benue state House of Assembly ,last week, passed a resolution directing the sacking of the Chief Judge of Benue state .
Some APC stakeholders in Benue state have also backed the decision of the state Assembly .
Commentators, Judicial analysts , lawyers and politicians on both sides of the divide have also offered divergent opinions on the matter .
Former Governor of Bayelsa state Senator Seriake Dickson and other senators have either called for caution or outrightly condemned the position of the Benue state House of Assembly in this regards .
Speaking in Tiv language at a burial ceremony over the weekend , justice Ikpambese recalled that backend story and insisted that he remains the Chief Judge of Benue state and that he will hold away until God Almighty decides otherwise .
Addressing mourners at a burial in Benue state , the CJBS said,”a lot of things have gone wrong . I didn’t want to speak and I won’t speak much . I am being compelled just as I am being compelled to speak here .
“They are insisting I appoint a Judge of their choice to handle the Local Government elections cases and I said no. That is my only offence . I have not done any other “.
He continued in Tiv ,”The law says I shall be the one to make that appointment of a judge that will handle these cases so what I have always done is to pray to God each time I have these task .
“I scrutinize all the judges before appointing and if I find out that you are close to any of the parties I will not appoint you .
“When I appointed a judge who will be upright trouble started ,meanwhile the cases have not even been decided .
“As I speak to you , they have mounted a lot of sand heaps at the entrance of my office in an effort to prevent me access to the office .
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“They have even tried to kill me in my office but God rescued me.
“I want to assure you all that in Abuja where I am been supervised they have been told that they (NJC) are not aware of what they are saying .
“It is the money sent to us to fix the state that is been used on these things . This money was not meant to bribe people to misbehave.
“The fact is that we have greedy and hungry people and when people are hungry ,they do things that ordinarily they would not do .
“But by the grace of God ,nothing is going to happen ,they will continue to misbehave and I will remain the Chief Judge until God decides otherwise “, he declared .
