C’River assembly approves Otu’s request to dissolve election body

The Cross River House of Assembly, has granted Gov. Bassey Otu’s request to dissolve the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission, (CROSIEC).

At the house’s sitting on Thursday in Calabar, 22 out of 25 assemblymen voted in favour of the governor’s request.

Some lawmakers who spoke on the matter, said that the assembly’s decision was in the interest of the state.

They said that reconstituting the election body would hasten the process of conducting local government council poll in the state.

Recall that on July 16, Otu, in a letter by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, requested the house to grant an approval for the dissolution of CROSIEC.

The governor also urged the house to approve the reconstitution of the body to facilitate the conduct of local government council elections in the state.

In the letter, Otu alleged that the current CROSIEC was grossly ineffective, and had been unable to conduct council elections since 2023.

He said that the call was in line with Section 201(1) – (2) of the 1999 Constitution.