The Governor of Cross River state, Senator Bassey Otu has asked the state house of assembly to allow him dissolve the Cross River Independent Electoral Commission in order to reorganize it for optimum performance. He accused the commission of lethargy and ineffectiveness which was the reason why local government elections had not been conducted.
In a letter he sent to the House of Assembly, the governor said that “In other to salvage the integrity of government, it has become expedient to dissengage the current membership of the commission who have been most tardy in the discharge of their functions. ” He urged the state house of assembly to remove the chairman as well as the members of the commission owing to serial ineffectiveness.
But in a swift reaction, the commission chairman, Associate professor Mike Ushie resigned his appointment the next day. In a letter he sent to the governor, he said “I write to resign my appointment as Chairman of the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC). This decision is to enable me to return to the university for further research work having served in that capacity for over six years.”
Professor Ushie later wrote an open letter to Professor Anthony Owan-Enoh, the Secretary to the State Government for damaging his reputation in the way he couched the letter sent to the house of assembly.”
He wrote : “Dear Sir, I write with the most excellent intentions to inform your good self and the general public that I deeply resent the wordings in your communication to the State House of Assembly regarding the Governor’s intention to restructure the Cross River Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) which I headed until yesterday.
“In the said letter, you claimed inter alia, that “Since the inauguration of the current Administration, His Excellency, the Governor, 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 the state local government council elections which ought to have held in 2023.”
“Sir, you further went ahead to write that ” In other to salvage the reputation of government, it has become expedient to disengage the current membership of the Commission who have been most tardy in the discharge of their functions. You also avered that the governor was “seeking to remove the Chairman as well as all the members of the Commission owing to serial ineffectiveness.”
“The SSG, Sir, permit me to inform you that the commission under my leadership, conducted the 2020 Local Government Council elections peacefully without litigation, presented and defended the 2024 LGC election budget and even wrote to the Governor, through the Commissioner for Local Governments for presentation of the budget for Executive Council approval. Unfortunately, while waiting for the approval thereof, you thought it expedient to soil my reputation and besmirch my work history by publicly describing me as cavalier, tardy and ineffective. This is, to say the least, totally unfair, unacceptable and mischievous on your part.
“Every appointment in the state, including even the statutory ones are in practice held at the pleasure of the state governor. The governor therefore enjoys the privilege to remove the board and replace same without his SSG first destroying the reputation of those who held the office previously. I obtained a PhD in Demography since 2010, and have been assessed for full professorship since 2022, and in my work history the terms cavalier, tardy and ineffectiveness have never been ascribed to my person before you tragically did so yesterday. Did you need to give the archetypal dog a bad name just because you wanted to hang it?
“Sir, you had no justification in characterizing my team and I in such mediocre and disdainful terms when you know very well that the decision to conduct elections does not lie with the commission. At best the commission can only make critical preparations and then wait for funding approvals and matching orders from the chief executive, which the commission strained every nerve to do, a long time ago. It is in the light of all the communication inproprieties and false accusations above that I demand an unreserved apology from you for unduly seeking to destroy my reputation and to lower me in the eyes of the general public. “
All efforts to reach the Secretary to the State Government for his reaction to the open letter remained abortive as his phone could not be accessed throughout. yesterday. The social media was however abuzz with condemnation of the scribe to the government. Many people condemned the language of the SSG arguing that if the governor wanted to remove the chairman and members of the commission he could still have done so without insulting them.
Do you have news for us? Or feedback? Reach us at info@theplenary.com.ng