Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State has challenged judges to eschew favoritism in their discharge of their constitutional duties.
He cautioned them against dancing to the tunes of those who feet judgment can be bought.
The governor said they should be bold to entrench the truth no matter whose ox is gored.
Ayade, who was represented by the deputy governor, Prof Ivara Esu at a church service at the Christian Central Chapel International (CCCI) to mark the 2022/2023 legal year, said the expectations of the government and citizens were enormous.
Also, the general overseer of CCCI (Faith Mansion) world headquarters, Ikot Ene-Obong 8 Miles Calabar, Bishop Gospel Emmah Isong, tasked judges in the state not to delay dispensation of justice but to quicken the process once a case is brought to court.
The cleric who doubles as the national publicity secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) stressed that it is dangerous if the judiciary allowed judgement to be procured by the highest bidder, warning on how society can be put in jeopardy if judges failed to deliver judgement according to rule of law.
Isong, who spoke on the topic: “A Woman Taken In Adultery” with a biblical inference drawn from the Book of John 8: 3 to 5, stated that the issue was not adultery but a scenario to trap Jesus by juxtaposing it with God’s grace.
While urging members of the judiciary to be circumspect, Isong said, “Judicial officers especially those who sit on the bench and the bar should look well and listen carefully because the world is wicked, people can be set up, lies can be told, not what you see can be true.
“The woman supposedly caught in adultery was just a bait to arrest Jesus for blasphemy and that was arranged by some pharisees in some dubious process without evidences and her case could not be proven without reasonable doubt”, Isong maintained.
The cleric argued that the central issue with the case was how to apply the law of Moses in the dispensation of grace.
In his remarks, the state chief judge, Justice Akon Ikpeme, said the 2022/2023 legal year was like no other and commended the judicial officers for making the outgone year a success.
He thanked Governor Ben Ayade for his support.
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