… urges Otu to sign CROSIEC bill
Chairman, Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Efiom Edet, has called for expeditious assent to CROSIEC Bill, and urged Governor Bassey Otu to conduct local government election before the year ends.
“The leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Cross River State, has called on the Governor of Cross River State to expeditiously assent to the Cross River Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) Bill recently passed by the Cross River State House of Assembly.
“IPAC vowed to stop Local Government allocation to the 18 local governments of the state if the government refused to adhere to the advice of IPAC,” according to the group.
Addressing a press conference weekend, the Council threatened to petition the relevant authorities if local government election is not conducted, noting, “Recall that the State House of Assembly recently amended the law regulating the conduct of local government elections in Cross River State”.
The IPAC had earlier refuted the law passed by the Assembly, insisting that more stakeholders’ engagement was not undertaken before passing such an all-important bill into law.
In response to the timely call by IPAC, the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Rt.Hon. Elvert Ayambem, invited the leadership of political parties and other critical stakeholders to make their input to the amended bill.
“In an interactive session that took place recently in the complex of the State Assembly, IPAC reached a seamless agreement with the House of Assembly on the reviewed clauses. The amended portions, which have been sent to the governor for assent, now reflect the broader consensus of critical stakeholders, thus allaying the fears of political parties in the state ahead of the elections.
“IPAC therefore commend the House of Assembly for the swift passage of the Bill, stressing that it demonstrates their commitment to deepening democracy in the state.”
In the same vein, the IPAC urged the Governor, Edet Bassey Otu to expeditiously assent to the Bill, to enable the conduct of local government election in the state.
“On the strength of the foregoing and in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court on local government autonomy, IPAC demands that the governor conducts the long awaited local government elections before the end of December, 2024 and that failure to conduct the election promptly, the Council will not hesitate to ask the Federal Government to stop allocation to the 18 local government areas in the state,” it said.
In a related development, IPAC pays a courtesy visit on the newly constituted CROSIEC, passes a vote of confidence in the Commission as well urges it to release the elections timetable without further hesitation.
It also charges the Commission to ensure the conduct of a free, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful local government elections in the state, and calls for the participation of all political parties as well as all Cross Riverians to be actively involved in the forthcoming local government election in order to restore democracy at the grassroots.
