The Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu, has approved the deployment of 82 staff to the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission to address manpower shortages in the commission.
The initiative is focused on administrative procedures and contemporary issues in electoral administration.
The Chairman of CROSIEC, Dr Ekong Boco, disclosed this on Monday in Calabar while speaking at a training workshop organised for electoral officers, assistant electoral officers and stores officers of the commission.
Boco said the commission was confronted with a critical manpower shortage arising from the retirement and death of some members of staff.
He explained that the commission subsequently presented a request to the governor for additional personnel, which led to the deployment of 82 staff to CROSIEC.
According to him, the governor also approved the training of the newly deployed personnel to equip them with the knowledge and skills required for effective electoral administration.
He said, “One of the critical challenges the Commission met on ground was understaffing due to the reasons of retirement and death.
“To address this, the Commission presented a request to His Excellency for the deployment of staff and His Excellency graciously directed the deployment of 82 staff to the Commission and also approved that these staff be trained so as to meet with public expectation.”
The chairman said the training was designed to expose participants to administrative procedures and the processes, practices and conduct of elections.
He added that the initiative was aimed at strengthening the capacity of the commission's personnel and improving their productivity.
Boco noted that since the inauguration of the current commission in August 2024, it had undertaken several reforms, including the renovation of its headquarters, restoration of water supply, stabilisation of electricity and improvement of the office environment.
He also recalled that the commission successfully conducted the 2024 Local Government Council elections across the state.
Declaring the workshop open on behalf of the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Anthony Owan-Enoh, the Special Adviser on Budget and Finance, Okpa Akpet, commended CROSIEC for organising the training for the newly employed staff.
Akpet urged the participants to take the training seriously and make effective use of the knowledge acquired in the course of their duties.
He said the training would provide the participants with the necessary understanding of their responsibilities at their various places of assignment.
Also speaking, the CROSIEC Secretary, Lawrence Edu, charged the newly recruited staff to abide by civil service rules and remain politically neutral in the discharge of their duties.
Edu warned the electoral officers against identifying with political parties or groups, stressing that their responsibilities required impartiality and professionalism.
“You are a civil servant, you are not a politician. Never identify yourself with any political party or political group because your role is more or less the role of a judge,” he said.
He urged the officers to take their responsibilities seriously and conduct themselves in a manner that would uphold the integrity of the commission.
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