After serial meetings and collective pressure mounted to secure six added months to their three-year tenure in office, local council chairmen in Cross River State, will now compulsorily vacate office on June 2, 2023, www.calitown.com can reveal.
Sources inside Government House, Calabar, confided in www.calitown.com that the 18 council chairmen “had repeatedly tried to influence certain persons close to out-going governor, Ben Ayade, to let the six months extension see the light of day. I am talking about them putting together cash and hoping to heavily pay those persons unspecified sums to make the governor conduct local council elections before he leaves.”
Those who attempted to talk the governor into conducting the elections, met a brick wall when Ayade was expertly adviced not to tow this path of dishonour. Some APC stakeholders and law experts are said to have also convinced the governor that it will be unconstitutional to conduct elections, worse still activate a six months tenure extension.
Eric Anderson, out-going Information Commissioner has been widely quoted to have informed some journalists that Ayade is not even considering towing this line, leaving the chairmen disappointed and having to prepare for life as former council bosses.
As it stands, caretaker committees appear to be the last resort and appointment to the caretaker committees will be done by incoming governor, Bassey Edet Otu. In the interim, the most senior administrative civil servants in the councils will hold forte until the new administration settles in.
