We can confirm that Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, has dragged the senator representing Cross River North Senatorial District in Nigeria’s Senate, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, before the Cross River State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Calabar, challenging the outcome of the National Assembly Elections of February 25, 2023, where Jarigbe defeated him. Ayade’s petition, listed as EPT/CRS/Sen/2/2023, is part of the 13 so far received by the tribunal, challenging the outcome of the February 2023 polls.
A. D. Bambur, Secretary of tribunal who made this information public, came clear that the Tribunal has so far sat and granted leave to all applicants to go ahead and inspect the election materials. The secretary further informed that three petitions are challenging the elections of the three senators-elect, while ten are challenging the election of the eight House of Representatives members-elect in the State.
A breakdown reveals that former Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, CRSHA, Bassey Eko Ewa, listed in petition, EPT/CRS/SEN/1/2023, is challenging the outcome of elections in the Central Senatorial District where current Speaker of the CRSHA, Eteng Williams, was declared winner.
In the Southern Senatorial District, Daniel Asuquo, known popularly as “Dansuki”, who currently represents Akamkpa/Biase Federal Constituency in the state, is challenging the election of Asuquo Ekpenyong Jnr of the APC in a suit listed as EPT/CRS/SEN/03/2023.
Also challenging the NASS February 25 polls is former CRS Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Attah Ochinke, who lost his bid to go to the House of Reps to Victor Abang in the Ikom/ Boki Federal Constituency.
Meanwhile, Sandy Ojang Onor, the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in the March 18, 2023 polls, has informed that he will challenge the declaration of Bassey Edet Otu, as winner of the governorship poll. He cited a plethora of irregularities including over voting, vote buying amongst others, as behind his decision to challenge the elections.
“In the first elections, the violations were minimal, but we know that the APC overreached itself in some places. It happened also in Boki, it happened in some places in Yakurr, it happened in Biase and in Yala and some places in Calabar South and Akpabuyo. The security forces were also not as professional as they were in the first election. There was official conspiracy. And it appeared that, the lndependent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies came together in the mother of all conspiracies and violated the electoral process.
“The records are there to show, that the will of the people was emasculated and undermined, and things went the way the went. And everyone knows, so, it’s not hidden, the people know that these elections were a sham. What we saw was a complete derogation from anything democratic.”
We closely gathered too that other candidates like Thomas Aruku of the APC who sought the Ogoja State Constituency seat is going to court to challenge the victory of Hon Rita Ayim of the PDP, but at press time, the tribunal could only confirm that, it has received 13 petitions so far as parties are currently serving the various summons and petitions to each other.