Bassey Inyang in Calabar
The All Progressives Congress (APC) saturday said it would deploy every legal means at its disposal to stop the Cross River State governor, Professor Ben Ayade, from imposing caretaker committees on the eighteen Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state.
Presently, the councils are run by heads of administration of local government areas.
About a year ago, the plans to conduct local government elections by the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC), were put on hold up without any official explanation.
The APC in the state raised the alarm at the weekend, alleging that Ayade was planning to set up caretaker committees for the councils with the intent of using them to rig the 2019 general elections in the state.
Addressing journalists in Calabar, the state chairman of the APC, Dr. Mathew Achigbe said that they would resist any attempt by the Ayade-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in the state.
“We will resist it because it is unconstitutional. Elections should be conducted. APC had since been prepared for local government elections in the state, but the Ayande government has kept frustrating the elections and now thinks it can hurriedly do the unconstitutional by appointing persons they think they could use to influence the 2019 elections in their favour across the local government areas. We will resist such unconstitutionality.
“We frown at the intention, whether real or otherwise, of the state government to set up caretaker committees for local government councils. We object to that attempt. In fact, we will react by all means at our own disposal to make sure that we truncate that evil machination.
“This time is completly not auspicious. If they wanted smooth administration of Cross River State, it would have been at other time than now.
It is not at the tail end of an administration that you will begin to think of setting up a caretaker committee. There is an ulterior motive for that kind of attempt. We don’t need any caretaker committee for the remaining weeks of this tenure.
“In any case, it is completely unacceptable to us, and I am sure, and to Cross Riverians. Our people have suffered all through the administration of Ben Ayade and it is not the last week of his administration that you just open a new idea of running administration of local government councils,” Achigbe said.
Speaking further, Achigbe said, “We believe that it is an intrigue. He is playing some tactics of trying to use people of his choice to win the 2019 elections.
“That is an indirect way of trying to rig election, we will not accept that. If he has run out of ideas of how to run a campaign for his reelection, he should just throw in the towel. And I don’t even believe that he should, if he has good concern, run this election. He has done very badly, he has disappointed us as a people, he has abused us as a people, he has actually failed in his leadership venture, and he should just tell Cross Riverians that he is incapacitated by his own misrule of Cross River State, rather than looking for ways and means of cheating and rigging elections.
“It is very treacherous idea for him to think that he wants to set up a caretaker committee for local government councils in Cross River State at the tail end of his administration, in fact when we can count the number of days to end his administration.”
Reacting, the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Inok Edim, said the the APC’s allegation was uncalled for.
He said Ayade had performed well to be elected for a second term and therefore, would have no reason to resort to any illegal means to win next year’s governorship election.
However, Edim said if it becomes necessary, the governor would not hesitate to constitute caretaker committees for the local government councils, saying it was the governor’s prerogative to do so.
“Why is APC concerned about what strategy the PDP uses for the elections? The governor will not do what is not right. If he deems it right that such appointments are made, he will do it. Besides, those appointed will be Cross River People and they have families and dependents that will be affected positively,” the PDP chairman said.
