BEVERLY HILLS, May 19, (THEWILL) – The Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade, has bowed to pressure by approving the appointment of 29 magistrates into the state civil service.
The magistrates, who were led by Solomon Abuo, had been protesting the non-payment of their salaries 24 months after they were engaged by the state government.
Beginning from January this year, they began daily protests to the government office in Calabar with their full regalia during some days.
The Governor had all along insisted that he did not approve their appointment but the Magistrates decided to shelve the protests when the government promised to look into their issue.
However, in a release in Calabar, the Cross River State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Tanko Ashang, said the issue of the magistrates had been resolved.
He explained that as a result of the stamp of approval by the Governor, the 29 Magistrates would subsequently be issued with appointment letters and then be put on the payroll.
Ashang insisted that the 29 Magistrates were not payrolled because their employment did not follow necessary processes and therefore was irregular.
He added that as a result of this the governor had in January 26 this year constituted a committee headed by the Deputy Governor, Professor Ivara Esu to look into the issue.
Barrister Ashang stated further that the committee “after rigorous sittings recommended a list of 29 magistrates for employment to the Governor adding that the Governor has put his stamp of approval to the list bearing the 29 magistrates.
“With this approval, appointment letters will be issued to the new magistrates and they will accordingly be payrolled,” the AG said.
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THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
