- Legal tussle over conduct of exercise
BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – Amid divergent positions by factions of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has swept all chairmanship seats in the 18 local government areas of Cross River State in a re-scheduled Councils’ elections held on Saturday, May 30, 2020.
Basking in the euphoria of their easy victory, the ruling party also made it a clean sweep of all the councillorship seats in the South South state that currently prides itself as the only coronavirus (COVID-19) free state in the country,
The Council polls, initially scheduled for March 28, 2020, was postponed due to the global outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic that necessitated a nationwide lockdown by both Federal and State governments.
Interestingly, a sudden announcement by the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) that the postponed elections would now hold in seven days time took most Cross Riverians by surprised, with accredited political parties having limited or no time to prepare and participate in the contest.
But CROSIEC Chairman, Dr Mike Ushie, who announced the results on Sunday, May 31, 2020, dismissed as unfounded reports that the figures announced for the polls were dubiously generated in-house by the electoral umpire to serve the State government orchestrated selfish interest.
According to him, contrary to such Insinuations, the results were a true reflection of what transpired in the field as collated by the various Local Government Returning Officers.
Dr Ushie disclosed that out of 11 political parties that applied to participate in the exercise, only five eventually scaled the hurdle and we accredited for the elections, adding that several meetings were held with leaders and representatives of the five parties before the Commission arrived at a suitable date for the election.
When asked to list the names of the five parties, the CROSIEC boss could only mentioned three, APC. PDP and Young Progressives Parties (YPP).
With assurances that the Commission complied with all the safety guidelines released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conduct of elections within the COVID-19 period, Dr Ushie also said that security agencies were fully mobilized to provide security cover for electoral materials and officers on duty as well as voters.
However, APC State Chairman, Sir John Ochalla, had ahead of the election issued a statement distancing the party from what he described as a charade by CROSEIC, insisting that there were outstanding legal issues in Court to sort out with the electoral umpire.
But in announcing the results, CROSEIC Chairman had reeled out figures indicating that a faction of APC led by Mr Etim John fielded pockets of candidates in selected Council areas but they were roundly thrashed at the polls by their PDP opponents.
Most of the polling units visited by the ForeFront in Bakassi, Akabuyo and Calabar South Local Government Areas on election day showed that enthusiastic PDP supporters having a field day as there were no visible signs of the opposition parties who supposedly participated in the exercise.
The Bakassi Local Government Council Chairmanship-elect, Mr Iyadim Amboni Iyadim, who expressed delight over the peaceful conduct of the elections, said with the exercise now concluded, the pressure of providing democratic dividends to people at the grassroots would ease from the shoulders of the state governor, Professor Ben Ayade.
For him, the newly elected chairmen, when sworn-in, would work hard to keep pace with the governor’s efforts at uplifting the people from the pawns of despair and biting poverty.
On his part, the State Commissioner for GAS, Mr. Saviour Nyong commended the governor for conducting a peaceful and successful elections, even as he expressed satisfaction with the enthusiasm shown by the people during the exercise.
Nyong described the conduct of the elections and PDP’s victory as a demonstration of the people’s abiding faith in the Governor and his efforts at developing the state.
