Former Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Frankland Briyia has said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lack powers to sack him.
Briyia said reports that he was sacked by the commission were fake, as he only resigned his appointment to join politics and participate in the Bayelsa State governorship election.
At the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Yenagoa, Briyia said he was at the party office to inform the officials that he was a registered party member and would contest the November poll.
He said: “… I officially and legally resigned my appointment and INEC will attest to that. Let me state this – the REC is nominated by the President and the President sends the nominees to the Senate. The Senate screens them and if they’re found worthy, confirms them and sends them to the President who eventually gives them appointments.
“The moment the appointment is given to the REC and the REC does anything wrong, INEC will investigate, send its reports and makes its recommendation …to the President.
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“If the President and his team investigate and see that what the REC did contravenes the code of conduct, he will send the report to the Senate. The Senate will debate it, if the two-third majority of the Senate finds the REC guilty, it will rectify it and send it back to the President.
“It, therefore, means that only the President can sanction the REC. I have contacted INEC headquarters and the news about my sack is fake. INEC said it didn’t say a thing like that. I’m sure you have watched or maybe read INEC’s publication; you won’t find anything like sack because I resigned officially.
“My departure created a vacuum and in INEC tradition, the moment there’s no REC, the administrative secretary takes over, that was what INEC meant. INEC doesn’t mean that I was sacked. So, don’t misquote INEC.”
Briyia added that he had mapped out robust programmes for Bayelsa, and if he became governor, he would focus on human capacity and infrastructural development.
According to him, the people were unemployed, lamenting that most of them could no longer go to school. The aspirant noted that civil servants were not getting their full salary, while most pensioners were languishing without pensions.
He said: “I came because the people of Bayelsa State called me to contest for governor. We have insecurity in this state, which is caused by so many factors. When we identify those factors, we intend to turn this state around for the betterment of everybody, God helping us.” [THE NATION]
