Ehigimetor Igbaugba
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Cross River, Prof. Gabriel Yomere, says he has personally signed all 3,281 result sheets meant for Saturday’s Governorship election in the state.
Yomere disclosed this 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 the state.
He said that the need to sign the result sheets became necessary, to douse tension and also dispel rumours that the sheets had already been issued out to a particular political party.
“The rumours have been rife that INEC in Cross River has already sold the result sheets to a particular political party. But you can see for yourselves that everything is intact and have not been tampered with, as it was kept in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“While I’m not bothered with the rumours, 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 said.
Meanwhile, the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), has lauded the decision of the REC to sign the result sheets for the elections.
Mr Bissong Attah, IPAC Chairman in the state who spoke at the venue of the distribution, said it was what they had requested the commission to do as part of efforts to curb what played out during the Feb. 25 polls.
According to him, we pushed for this and I dare say, this is our first shot of 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.”
NAN reports that the governorship and state assembly elections will take place in 3,281 polling units in the state on Saturday. (NAN)
