Gov Otu seeks House of Assembly’s approval to reorganise CROSIEC

By Itam Offor

Cross River State Governor Bassey Edet Otu has requested the State Legislature’s approval to reorganise the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC).

The request, contained in a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, highlighted the Commission’s ineffectiveness and prayed the Legislature to “act, pursuant to section 201(1) – (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, and pass an address to remove the Chairman as well as all the Members of the commission owing to serial ineffectiveness.”

According to the letter the State Government has, “Observed with dismay a cavalier work attitude by the Chairman and members of the State Electoral Commission. This inertia has led to the State not being able to conduct Local Government Council elections which ought to have been held in 2023.”

The letter subsequently sought the Assembly’s approval to give Governor Otu, “The latitude to reorganize the Commission to enable the State to have elections to its Local Government Council as soon as possible.”

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After considering the request, the Speaker of the House Assembly, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem, referred the matter to the House Committee on Judiciary Public Service Matters, Public Petition and Conflict Resolution for in-depth study and recommendation.

In a related development, the State House of Assembly has also received the State Governor’s request for the confirmation of nominees for appointment into the Local Government Service Commission, Board of lnternal Revenue Service as well as the State Privatisation Council.

The requests have also been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary, Public Service matters, Public Petitions, and Conflict Resolution for further legislative action.