PDP Will Participate in October 26  Council Polls Through Protest, Says Ikem, Chairman

By Missang AKPET

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that it will participate in the forthcoming local government elections slated for October 26 2024 but through protest.

The state chairman of the party, Barr. Venatius Ikem, who stated this at the one day stakeholders meeting ahead of the 2024 local government elections, 
said the processes leading to the conduct of the elections are hasty, stating that the electoral laws provide for more time to campaign than the 5 days given by CROSIEC.

He said: "The PDP is going to participate in the elections but that will be through protest.

"This is because the PDP is not comfortable with the electoral process as spelt out by CROSIEC which is not in consonant with the electoral laws.

"The establishment of the Electoral Commission was hasty which we believe is for the purpose of these elections, the idea of amending the law hastily and setting up the commission is an aberation of the law.

"Which electoral register are you going to use for the elections or are you saying every Cross Riverian is eligible to vote? Are they using BVAS or manual accreditations? We need to know all these things in order to acertain the credibility of the elections.

"What the CROSIEC is doing is indulging in a process which is not in conformity with its rules and our party will not accept it neither will we be part of it. We will be challenging the process" Vena said.

Meanwhile, other political parties present at the meeting declared that they are ready for the elections and their parties will be participating fully in the elections.

The state Chairman of the Young Peoples Party (YPP), Mr. Anthony Bisong Attah, as well as the state chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Dr. Ekpenyong Ambo, said the need for grassroots participation is key for rural development hence the YPP despite the short notice is in full support of CROSIEC and will be participating in the elections.

They hinted that they have been pressurising the state government to conduct local government elections for years now which means they had been prepared and ready all along.

With the electoral calendar now released and the notice of elections sent, all is now set for the conduct of the council polls.

Pundits and political commentators are of the opinion that the hasty passage of the state electoral bill as well as the one month interval for the conduct of the council polls may not be unconnected to the three-month moratorium on local government financial autonomy given by the federal government in August which will take effect in November.