LG Poll: CROSIEC Distributes Electoral Materials, Assures Parties Of Transparent Exercise

• APC battles PDP, 8 other parties for votes on Saturday, Nov 2, 2024
• Gov Otu declares 2-day public holiday for exercise

BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – All is now set for the conduct of Local Government Councils’ elections in Cross River State on Saturday, November 2, 2024, with the distribution of electoral materials to all 18 Local Government Areas in the state.

This is as Governor Bassey Edet Otu declared a two-day public holiday in the State for Thursday and Friday as preparations for the election enter top gear with the Cross River Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) also announcing that movement will be restricted during the exercise.

Similarly, the Chairman of Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC), Dr Ekong Edet Boco says the Electoral umpire is fully prepared to conduct free and fair local government polls, even as he debunked rumours that the electoral body is non-partisan in its dealings with political parties.

Boco, who spoke to newsmen at the Commission’s Headquarters in Calabar on Thursday during the distribution of sensitive materials to the 18 LGAs said there is no truth in the insinuations that CROSIEC has compromised its integrity by stealthy filling out the result sheets preparatory to announcing alleged fake results in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

He further explained that the public display and distribution of the electoral materials were meant to dispel any doubt among those who thought the electoral umpire had compromised its integrity and would be presiding over a skewed and manipulated process

Also allowing journalists and major stakeholders to inspect the ballot papers before flagging off the distribution exercise, the CROSIEC Chairman urged the political parties to support the Commission, maintaining that speculations of so-called irregularities were unfounded.

Speaking specifically about Saturday’s poll, Boco said; “We will be using 3,281 Polling Units as approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 9,843 ad-hoc staff, 460 supervisors, 18 returning officers, and 198 collation officers.

“The ad-hoc staff were all trained from 25 to 27 of October 2024, including the Returning and Ward Collation Officers. I believe they should all conduct themselves appropriately and transparently during the election.”

The CROSIEC Chairman also used the occasion to announce that only 10 political parties are participating in the polls, noting that the political parties registered for the election have so far demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm and cooperation with the specified guidelines for the exercise.

In his remarks, the Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Engineer Effiom Edet Okon commended CROSIEC for the transparent and all-inclusive steps taken so far toward conducting the election.

Engr Okon said having closely observed the process by CROSIEC, its members are confident that the election would be “free, fair and credible”.

According to him; “We have not noticed in any way where results were signed for any political party and so we want to let the people know that something like that has not happened”.

However, he maintained that IPAC is interested in a fair and transparent process that allows the people to freely choose their leaders at the grassroots level without harassment and intimidation from any quarters.