While the apex court of the land, the Supreme Court, is poised to deliver judgement in a matter brought before her by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Joe Agi, seeking the sack of Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, for alleged birth date irregularities, this Friday, December 9, 2016 in Abuja, there is heightened political tension across the state as the verdict is being awaited, www.calitown.com, can reveal.
The tension is more visible among several political appointees of the Ayade administration and supporters of the governor, on one hand, as well as among supporters of Agi, a category of persons opposed to Ayade in principle and concerned indigenes of the state. It is widely believed that most of the more than one thousand appointees of the Ayade administration, acknowledge that should their principal lose at the Supreme Court, their jobs will be gone. It therefore has not surprised many people that some very prominent appointees it appears, have gone religious for Ayade, aggressively adopting the “My Case Will Be Different” theme for Shiloh 2016, the annual end of year religious gathering of the Living Faith Church International (Winner’s Chapel), as a mark of solidarity to Ayade.
Again, in most government offices visited by our reporters in the course of this story, appointees at the helm of affairs in those offices, it was clear to see, had abandoned them for now, opting instead to head to Abuja as a solidarity gesture. Those who were still seen around, are thought to be exploring transportation options or have not the financial muscle to undertake the Abuja trip. Amazingly too, a member of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Peter Odey, put out a N5 million bet on Facebook, against outspoken critic of Ben Ayade, Ray Ugba Morphy, that the governor will not be sacked.
For supporters of Agi, several group prayer meetings that have been in place since the December 9 date was announced, intensified religious activities across the state. Sources informed us that at one such prayer meeting held at an undisclosed location in Calabar, those in attendance were advised to remain prayerful in the hope that their prayers wil be answered. At press time, we were unable to ascertain whether the news making the rounds that substantial CRS government cash was being hurriedly pushed into private pockets, is true.
