Para: Okoi Obono-Obla, a former presidential aide, has criticized the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for objecting to the recent appointments to the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC). The PDP claimed that most appointees were members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and that the appointments aimed to compromise the upcoming local government council election.
Obono-Obla argued that the PDP’s reaction is misplaced, as there is no provision in the CROSIEC Law or the 1999 Constitution that prohibits the appointment of political party members to the commission. He listed the qualifications for CROSIEC membership, including being qualified to be a member of the State House of Assembly, and pointed out that membership in a political party is not a disqualifying factor.
Obono-Obla emphasized that the PDP cannot introduce a restriction that the Constitution’s framers did not contemplate. He stated that the appointments were made based on the qualifications outlined in the Constitution, and the PDP’s objections are unfounded.
The PDP had claimed that the appointments were a deliberate strategy by the APC to manipulate the electoral process and entrench its dominance. However, Obono-Obla’s argument suggests that the appointments were made in accordance with the Constitution and that the PDP’s objections are politically motivated.
