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From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Cross River, Prof Gabriel Yomere, has personally decided to sign all the 3,281 result sheets meant for Saturday’s governorship election in the state to douse tensions.
The REC made the disclosure in Calabar on Wednesday during the inspection of the electoral materials for the polls before their onward distribution to the various Local Government Areas of Cross River.
He said it became imperative to sign the result sheets to douse the political tension and also to dispel the rumours that result sheets have already by issued to a particular political party.
“The rumour has been rife that INEC in Cross River has already sold out the result sheets to a particular political party but you can see for yourself that everything is intact and has not been tampered with as kept in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” he said.
“I am not bothered with the rumour, but to ensure transparency of the process, I will sign all the result sheets for the governorship election while the administrative secretary will sign that of the House of Assembly election before they are distributed to various council areas,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), has hailed the decision of the REC to sign the result sheets for the elections.
The Chairman of Cross River IPAC, Mr Bissong Attah, who spoke at the venue of the distribution, said it was what they had requested the commission to do as part of an effort to curb what played out during the February 25 polls.
According to him, “we pushed for this and I dare say this is our first shot at victory towards the elections.
“Though the presidential and National Assembly elections were relatively free, there were observable lapses, especially during collation where there were no result sheets in most polling units.
“This signature is like a guarantee. The next is to ensure that all the materials are delivered intact to the various polling units across the state.”
