… Says Otu’s scorecard will give APC overwhelming victory
The Special Adviser on General Duties to Senator (Prince) Bassey Otu, Governor of Cross River State, Barrister Ekpenyong Akiba, has said that the Local Government (LG) elections holding in the state on Saturday, November 2, 2024, to be conducted by the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC), will be credible and transparent.
Akiba stated this in an interview, while giving the assurance that Governor Otu was determined to create a level playing field for all the political parties partaking in the LG polls and allow for free and fair elections.
According to him, the governor demonstrated his readiness to pave the way for a transparent process in the conduct of the election, when he responded immediately to the request of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), for a reduction in the cost of nomination forms and an extension of the date for the LG Polls.
His words: “Our amiable governor, a man of character, an upright and straightforward politician, a rare gem, always ready and willing to give listening ears to the people, had graciously yielded to the demands of the Cross River State Chapter of IPAC to bring down the cost of nomination forms and shift the date of the election from the earlier October 26 to November 2, 2024.
“You will recall that prior to the primary elections of the different political parties for the LG polls, cost of nomination forms was put at N5000,000 for Chairmanship candidates and N1000,000 for Councillorship candidates in accordance to the CROSIEC law. But listening to the complaint of IPAC concerning the very harsh economic situation in the country, His Excellency, Governor Bassey Otu immediately announced a reduction from N5000,000 to N1000,000 for the Chairmanship polls and N1000,000 to N200,000 for Councillorship elections, while promising that the government will bear the cost of the balance so as to ensure compliance with the law.
“This, for me, is rare. Only a politician ready to allow a transparent and credible process with full participation by every political party willing to be part of the exercise will take such an action. Ordinarily, he could have insisted on the N5000,000 and N1000,000 for Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates respectively to give his party, the ruling APC an advantage and deny other parties the chances of participating in the elections as a result of high cost of nomination forms. But instead he reasonably reduced the nomination fee for all parties and their candidates to be able to afford it and partake fully in the elections. And promised that the government will pay the balance for all the political parties.
“Having taken about 90% of the cost of nomination fee, Prince Otu can be said to be the sponsor of all political parties in the state for the LG elections. I challenged anyone to come and tell me where it has ever happened. What you see is a ruling party wanting to block opposition parties. So, quite clearly, it showed that His Excellency, Prince Otu is truly resolute in his decision to allow for free and fair LG polls in the state come Saturday, November 2.”
The Special Adviser on General Duties, however, maintained that victory was sure for the candidates of All Progressives Congress (APC) across the state in the LG polls, with the outstanding performance and remarkable feats of Prince Otu since he came on board as Cross River helmsman.
He said Governor Otu has won the hearts of Cross Riverians with his impressive exploits in the various sectors of the economy geared towards transforming and repositioning Cross River State for greatness and prosperity.
“I want to be very realistic. In Cross River State, I don’t see the candidate of any other political party winning a seat in the coming local government elections across the state, be it chairmanship or councillorship. But in an event where it happened, you can be rest assured that such a candidate will be allowed. And this is because our God-fearing Governor will never support any kind of manipulation to favour any candidate in the election.
“But the truth remains that, how would any other candidate apart from APC candidates win any of the seats in the elections? Today, members of the opposition parties in the state are massively defecting to APC due to Otu’s excellent record of achievements so far, which are bringing succour to the people and putting smiles on the faces of Cross Riverians. Everyone in the state – the youths, women, traditional rulers, religious leaders, businessmen, political stakeholders, are in love with the governor for the good work he is doing under the auspices of the APC government. So, Otu’s scorecard will definitely give our party, APC, a resounding and overwhelming victory across the 18 LGAs and all the wards in the state.”