The Cross River State House of Assembly has granted Governor Bassey Otu’s request to dissolve the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC).
In a decisive plenary session on Thursday, 22 out of 25 Assembly members voted in favour, securing the required two-thirds majority to approve Governor Otu’s proposal.
According to a press statement by Matthew Okache, Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem, on Thursday, the approval follows a formal request made on 16th July, conveyed in a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh to the House of Assembly.
The letter cited significant concerns about CROSIEC’s ineffectiveness, attributing the delay in conducting the 2023 Local Government Council elections to the Commission’s “cavalier work attitude.”
The request from the state government, invoking section 201(1) – (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, called for the removal of CROSIEC’s Chairman and all its members.
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The letter also emphasised that the reorganisation of the Commission is essential for the state to conduct the overdue local elections and to enhance democratic governance at the grassroots level.
“The inertia displayed by the Chairman and members of the State Electoral Commission has led to the State not being able to conduct Local Government Council elections, which ought to have been held in 2023,” the letter stated.
It further highlighted the necessity for the Governor to have the “latitude to reorganise the Commission” to facilitate the election process.
Following the House of Assembly’s approval, Governor Otu was urged by the lawmakers to immediately reconstitute CROSIEC to ensure that the local government elections can proceed without further delay.
“Conducting these elections would alleviate the administrative burden on the executive and legislative arms and ensure that the dividends of democracy are felt more significantly by the grassroots population” the lawmakers added.
