From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The Cross River state All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders have raised the alarm over the incumbent 18 local government chairmen insistence that Governor Ben Ayade should conduct of council elections before the May 29 handover.
The stakeholders wondered why the council chairmen should be mounting pressure on Governor Ben Ayade to conduct local government elections barely 37 days to his exit and against the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) agreed date of October 2023.
The Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) chairman, Prof. Mike Ushie, had postponed the 2023 local government election to October 21, 2023 as against the earlier announced date of May 24, 2023.
Ushie in a statement cited budgetary concerns as a major reason behind the shift in date for the election, adding that “the reschedule is due to budgetary concerns as the approved 2023 Local Government Council elections is captured in the 2023 appropriation with no supplementary provision in the 2022 budget.
“The action was in line with Section 24 (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 as amended. Also, political parties are to sign and collect the rescheduled timetable at its headquarters in Calabar and said that the guidelines remain unchanged.
The tenure of current 18 chairmen and 196 councilors would end on June 1, 2023, meaning Governor Ben Ayade’s successor would appoint caretaker committee members for the 18 councils.
However, investigation by Daily Sun revealed that shortly after the general elections and following emergence of APC as the winner, council chairmen have been mounting pressure on Governor Ayade and the party leadership to conduct local government elections.
The 18 chairmen are claiming that Ayade and the party leadership had promised to compensate them with second term ticket if they work for the success of APC, insisting that this is pay back time as they are not sure that the Governor-elect, Sen. Bassey Out and his team may pander to their favour.
Government House source confided in Daily Sun at the weekend that in a meeting held with the Governor, the council chairmen impressed it on the Leader of the party to order the state chairman to commence the electoral processes in collaboration with CROSIEC that would culminate in local government elections before May 29 handover date.
The source added that the chairmen had reminded the Governor that they had delivered and therefore should be given automatic tickets for second term as a form of compensation, fearing that they will be shown the way out once the new government takes over power.
According to the source, Governor Ayade was said to have advised the chairman to meet with the incoming Governor, Sen. Prince Bassey Otu, and discuss the issue of election and automatic tickets, saying “once the incoming Governor gives approval for the conduct of LG council election, I will conduct the election with an immediate effect.”
He added that the “state party chairman has no such right to pronounce automatic ticket for them all as such pronouncement might cause division in the party, that everything must pass through a democratic formation.”
Kicking against such moves, Bar. Utum Eteng, one of the APC stakeholders from Yakurr local government area in the central senatorial district, said it would be illegal and unconstitutional for the present government to just wake up and conduct council elections at the twilight of the administration.
Eteng, who was also a member of APC state campaign organisation said there are laid down rules and regulations that guides the conduct of elections and therefore would be unacceptable for a government to just wake and issue fiat order to CROSIEC when the present tenure of chairman ends on June 1, 2023.4.22
“I advise the government to just hand over and the new administration would continue from there. We all belong to the same APC and so nobody should create bad blood between out-going Governor and the in-coming Governor as anything to thew contrary would be challenged in competent Court of law,” he stated.
Describing the action of chairmen as selfish and amount to anti-party, another stakeholder from Calabar south in southern senatorial district, Chief Bassey E. Bassey, said: “It is the height of desperation for power and an attempt to arm twist Ayade into pleasing them on the pretext that they worked hard for success of the party at the last polls and asked whether the chairmen were the only people who worked for the party.
“I commend Ayade for being frank with them by advising they they take their demand to Sen. Out because it would be wrong to set up local government structure for another person when former Governor Liyel Imoke didn’t. if I have my way, no current council chairman should be given a second term ticket. Let new sets of people be considered this time.”