While the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission, CROSIEC, had announced that chairman and councillorship aspirants in this month’s local government elections will have to part with N5 million and N1 million respectively, for forms as stipulated in the amended State Independent Electoral Commission, CROSIEC law, state governor, Bassey Edet Otu, has made a formal request to CROSIEC to review the fees.
On Wednesday in his office, where he held discussions with the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, leadership in the state in preparation for the upcoming local government elections, the governor acceded to IPAC’s request for a revision in the fees.
Without deviating from CROSIEC’s regulations, the state governor proposed reducing the fee to N1 million for chairmanship candidates and N200,000 for councillorship candidates, acknowledging the challenging economic circumstances faced by all. He pledged that the state government will cover the balance to CROSIEC and ensure compliance with the law.
IPAC’s state chairman, Edet Effiom of the Action People’s Party APP, accompanied by 15 other chairmen of different political parties who are IPAC members, expressed gratitude for the governor’s democratic values. They assured the governor of continued support as long as the administration upholds good governance practices, demonstrating IPAC’s dedication to the state’s developmental goals.
