By Sylvia Akpan, Government House Correspondent
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Cross River State chapter, has given the Governor of Cross River State Senator Bassey Edet Otu 90 days ultimatum to conduct the postponed local government elections in the State.
This was contained in a press release signed by the IPAC State Chairman – Anthong Bissong and his Secretary Ntami Esege dated 12 September 2023.
IPAC expressed worries about the State Government’s silence on the conduct of the election, positing that other States are set to do so.
The Council however, implore the Governor to give the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission, (CROSIEC) the go ahead to immediately return to work as Cross Riverians can no longer tolerate the illegal and unconstitutional imposition of Heads of Local Government Administration, HOLGA.
It reads: “Recall that the process leading to the conduct of the local government elections commenced in May last year but was understandably postponed to give enough room for the conduct of the last general elections. The last date scheduled for the election was 21st October 2023, which is next month.
“As a new administration, it was our considered opinion to allow the government ample time to settle down and hit the ground running. Consequently, for over three months and counting, we declared a deserved honeymoon for the new administration.
“We were however shocked to note that in his press conference last week to mark his 100 days in office, nothing was said about the administrative lacuna in our Local Government Councils. This clearly shows that he is yet to prioritize local government administration.
“It is expected that as a former Federal Legislator at both the Upper and Lower Houses, he should lead by example.
“We are also well aware that Edo State conducted local government election barely a week ago, the election that was postponed just like ours. Moreover, Taraba State with a new governor just like us has scheduled her local government election to be held on the 18th of November, 2023.
“These are States that commenced the process about the same time as the Cross River State. The reason these States are conducting elections hitherto postponed is because government is a continuum.
“It is against the background of the foregoing that we have elected to call on the governor to mandate the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission, CROSIEC, to immediately return to work as Cross Riverians can no longer tolerate the illegal and unconstitutional imposition of Heads of Local Government Administration, HOLGA.”