The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Cross River State chapter, has threatened to ask the Federal Government to stop sending monthly allocations to the 18 local councils of the state if the state government fails to conduct the overdue local council elections before the end of December 2024.
  
IPAC, made up of leadership of all political parties in the state, handed down the threat during a press briefing in Calabar at the weekend. It said their position became necessary because the election is overdue and in line with the Supreme Court judgment on local council autonomy.
  
They also called on Governor Bassey Otu to expeditiously assent to the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) law recently passed by the state House of Assembly to enable the conduct of council elections in the state.
  
The council, which commended the Speaker of the state Assembly, Elvert Ayambem, for taking the input of the leadership of political parties and other stakeholders in reviewing the amended portions of the bill, said it allayed their fears ahead of the election.
 
The Chairman of the state IPAC, Effiom Edet, also lauded the state Assembly for the swift passage of the bill, stressing that it demonstrates their commitment to deepening democracy in the state.
 
IPAC expressed the readiness of the political parties to participate in the council election, calling on all Cross Riverians to be actively involved in the forthcoming election to restore democracy at the grassroots.