Lessons from the Cross River State bye-elections

Emmanuel Alfred- Calabar

26 February, 2022 was a day of immense importance to the political players of Cross River State as the state had its own bye- elections.

The elections wasn’t just to replace the vacant seat in the Ogoja/Yala federal constituency in the northern senatorial district of Cross River State but also, see how Cross Riverians react to the defection of the seating Governor, Sen Prof Ben Ayade to the ruling APC through the polls and very importantly, use this as a litmus test for INEC’s preparation for the 2023 polls .

Without a doubt, the polls had a massive voter turn out which was impressive because it pushed to the back seat the issue of voter apathy, it also saw the introduction and test running of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System- a system that allows voters see the results of any poll quickly. There were accusations of malpractice by both parties during the polls with the PDP threatening legal actions to challenge the results.
So, what did we learn from the polls?

The first is that the People Democratic Party (PDP) is still deeply rooted in the state. After being the single dominant party in the State for the greater part of 21 years, people still could really relate with the umbrella.

Second is that people still believe in elections as an effective vehicle to effecting change in the society because of the voter turnout. The APC’s Jude Ngaji scored 22,778 votes as against the PDP’s Mike Usibe who garnered 20,590 votes.

Thirdly, Free and Fair elections is still a work in progress. From issues (reportedly) like intimidating INEC officials by thugs, to stealing of ballot boxes, destroying election materials etc. We still have a long way to go. Good thing is President Muhammadu Buhari just signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which will help allow INEC to come up with technical solutions to elections and we expect more of these Bills to be signed into law to help prosecute violators of electoral laws.

The results are still being contested and we will see events unfold in the coming days, Congrats to Jude Ngaji but as far as the next election is concerned, The major players and stakeholders still have a lot to do in delivering a quality electoral process