Attention : Dr. Mike Ushie Sir, AN OPEN REQUEST FOR MORE LIES AND FLIMSY EXCUSES FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF CROSS RIVER STATE INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION, CROSIEC OVER THE PROTRACTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS.

In times like these, it's quite necessary to extend kind pleasantries and best wishes to all and sundry that intercepts one; mostly in the season of yuletide. It's sequel to the aforesaid, that I sincerely wish you a merry christmas and happy new year in advance. Do have the best celebration.

Mr.  Chairman, I love to begin with formal introduction of my humble-self in order to clear any suspended and suspected doubts that might be encountered during the cause of you perusing this epistolary and help conserve the energy you would, perhaps dissipate to enquire who the writer is.

Be it as it may, I write to convey to you and your commission not the assurances of my confidence as I had done orally the penultimate time; but to relay to you my concern, pains, worries and fears over the unfortunate and unfavorable vicissitudes orchestrated and perpetrated by you in the name of 'politrick' regarding the local government elections.


Sir, I shall be addressing issues as they bother on this matter authoritatively on the mandate of my inalienable human and inviolable political rights as enshrined in the various articles and charters of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights as adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217A (III) of 10 December 1948. And African (BANJUL) Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights ( adopted 27 June 1981, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 review. 5,21 I.L.M. 58(1982), entered into force 21 October 1986).

Sir, if your memory wouldn't disappoint you at this juncture, you would succinctly as a matter of fact recall that in the penultimate meeting you held with all political parties, civil society groups and other agents of government on the 30th of October 2017, I lauded your ingenuity and simultaneously expressed fears and doubts on the readiness and preparedness of CROSIEC to conduct elections. My fears as expressed, rode on the wheel of the incessant schemes and happenings then.

Recall that of all the political parties in attendance, it was only myself ( Secretary of the Young Progressive Party, YPP) and the All Progressive Party, APC representative that reacted to your candid submission. I remember vividly because I have on record that I argued that it was absolutely preposterous and ridiculous for a commission under your superintendent could be bold and proud to fix LGA elections for December without a tentative date. Remember I complained that the proposed exercise was heading to the rock and it would amount to exercise in futility based on the manner it was being handled. Also, remember I referenced our sister state (Akwa Ibom) to illustrate my points to you that the elections' umpire in that state had fixed date for their elections three months ago.

Remember your response was : ' We shall by next week being first week of November release time-table for the elections'. Sir, shamefully and surprisingly,  the public or my-very-self didn't see the release in November and this is December, the proposed month for the protracted elections almost winding up.


Early this year, or few months after your appointment, you graciously as a matter of necessity addressed pressmen and parties in the state on the said elections. You said the elections would not hold as anticipated due to the fact that the State House of Assembly didn't approve the required sum of money for the execution of the elections. You further added that the commission's infrastructures were dilapidated in all the 18 LGAs. That was the golden lies; sorry excuses you told us. Again, shortly afterward, you said the conduct of the election was near impossible owing to the fact that the commission was yet to resolve the litigation in court. That was right.

Sir, according to you, the last meeting was convened because the said litigation was then settled. And that you had visited the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC Cross River State REC to officially request for the comprehensive registered voters' lists. I'm worried and disgruntled why nothing seems to have been done by CROSIEC. if you wouldn't mind, and if I may ask; were you denied of your request from INEC? Or, is CROSIEC once again suffocated in the recent budget of Kinetic Crystallization? Why is CROSIEC retarding us politically instead of accelerating us to be in harmonious motion with our neighbouring states? What's preventing CROSIEC from conducting the elections?

Why you Ponder on the posers above, I wish to contrarily to my opinion say that the fault is neither yours nor CROSIEC. Sir,  I really sympathise with your predicament. I understand you're not comfortable with most of your actions. Yes, I know that your commission is only independence in name,  but not in reality. Sir, would you continue to oversee a commission thatencourages you to hatch lies because you want to get somebody's job done at all cost? Sir, do you know that your integrity is critically damped and is fast reducing per second before the estimation of your admirers? Do you know that the confidence once reposed on you has dwindled drastically?

However, while I join the politically conscious Cross Riverians to wait for further flimsy excuses from you as usual, I wish you have posterity in view.

Finally, please think on those things. May God grant you and your commission the courage to do the right thing. Amen!

Highest Regards,
Yours Most Trusted.
Comr. Ogar Emmanuel Oko
Publisher of TheScribe and Observer.