Oku
Cameroon to hold first regional elections in December
Cameroon’s veteran leader, Paul Biya, on Monday, announced the country first regional elections in December, including in two western regions in the grip of a revolt by the anglophone minority. The indirect elections on December 6 in the country’s 10 regions will put in place councils provided for in a 1996 constitution in a move towards decentralisation but not yet implemented. These councils will also be elected in the two western regions where a nearly three-year-old insurgency has claimed over 3,000 lives. The two restive anglophone regions are home to a large minority of English speakers in a country where French speakers are the overwhelming majority — a situation that is the legacy of the decolonisation of western Africa by France and Britain more than six decades ago. Years of rese...
Akwa Ibom council polls: Protests trail ‘imposition’ of candidates by PDP
File Photo A storm of protests has broken out in Akwa Ibom State over alleged imposition of unpopular candidates on the faithful by the hierarchy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The selection process of aspirants to fly the flag of the ruling PDP in the state has been dogged by alleged underhand dealings, fetish oath-taking, among other dubious means. Specifically, youth from Mbo and Urue Offong/Oruko local government areas of the state have spoken against the imposition of Chairmanship candidates on them. The youth in Mbo have questioned the rationale for picking the incumbent chairman, Asukwo Eyo for a second term when his record in the first term was nothing to write home about even as their counterparts in Urue Offng/Oruko also faulted the imposition of Mrs Precious Selong as th...
