About 95 percent of
the people of Bakassi will not participate in the April polls because
they were not registered, Chairman of Bakassi Local Government Area,
Ekpo Ekpo Bassey has said. Mr Bassey who described the development as
unacceptable, said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
failed to make adequate provisions as well as extend the deadline for
the conduct of the exercise in spite of its late commencement in the
Local Government Area.
“INEC knows where
Bakassi people are settling following the ICJ judgement. INEC needed to
recognise Bakassi in the resettled area. The ceding, relocation,
settlement of Bakassi was known by INEC. INEC captured our communities
with the old names now in Cameroun; they claimed their machines were
configured based on those old names, but INEC in connivance with some
Bakassi leaders created a new location for the exercise, thereby
depriving majority of the indigenes of their rights,” he said.
“The state
government and stakeholders of Bakassi took a position on the matter
calling on INEC to carry out registration exercise in Ikang, the new
Bakassi council area, but INEC ignored the call and conducted the
exercise in another location.”
He revealed that
every appeal on the commission to extend the exercise was turned down
despite the fact that the exercise did not commence on schedule in the
area.
Mr Bassey, a
medical doctor by profession, appealed to all Bakassi indigenes to shun
acts inimical to the development of the area and come together as his
administration is poised to promote the peaceful coexistence of all in
the area as well as ensure its smooth transformation.
“Division is normal
because of the interest involved, but we have a responsibility to
governance; to bring all the people together to achieve peace for the
meaningful development. We open our doors and are prepared to receive
all our indigenes, accommodate their interest, to reach them and
encourage them, so that we can have one Bakassi,” he maintained.
He announced that work on the council’s permanent secretariat is 40 percent completed.
