The Cross River state government has demanded for the creation of more political wards and Polling Units in the state to address voters apathy caused chiefly by long distance journey to the ward headquarters.
Comr Asu Okang, Commissioner for Information and Orientation, made these demands Wednesday when the newly deployed INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Emmanuel Hart paid him a courtesy visit at his office in Calabar.
“I among other things drew the attention of INEC to the injustice meted on Cross River state regarding the number of polling units in the state, compared to the vast geographical landmass and people of the area.
I, for instance drew his attention to some political wards that require 2 to 3 hours journey to get to the headquarters and called for the creation of more polling units and political wards in the state in keeping with current realities.
“The Bakassi situation also took the front burner,as l called on INEC to urgently implement law number (7 ) of the Cross River State House of Assembly, by urgently delineating the new Bakassi Local Government to accommodate the ceded area to Cameroon, owing to the kangaroo judgement of the the ICJ to achieve political order and in keeping with the Supreme Court judgement.
“As 2023 beckons, the REC assured us that urgent steps will be taken to address some of these issues and we agreed to put up a white paper latest by Monday as a follow-up.
“His Excellency, the Governor, shall therefore be convening a stakeholders meeting to evaluate wards with peculiar cases for collective input”.