Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, who represents Cross River Northern Senatorial District in Nigeria’s Senate, has maintained that former Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade’s “futile attempts” in contesting the outcome of the last senatorial elections are making it difficult for him to concentrate on delivering on the mandate given to him by the electorate in the district.
Jarigbe who bared his mind on his verified Facebook page in an article he captioned “Politics of Primitive Acquisition”, maintained that, “..
a man cannot have four years in the senate and eight years as governor, without meaningful achievements and be rewarded with a senatorial seat or a ministerial position.”
“I hear, about fifty (50) of my constituents from Cross River North have been ferried to Calabar, to appear as witnesses for Ayade, in the petition filed by Ayade against me, over the last Cross River North Senatorial Election. I also hear there is a failed attempt at conscripting INEC to give evidence against me. I trust INEC on this and they will never act arbitrarily. The problem with people like my opponent is that, they believe it is possible to get everything in this world if you have acquired some money. Let us not forget that when money is made, at the expense of service delivery to the common Man, it haunts you for a life time. That is the baggage my Opponent has”, he wrote.
In a veiled reference to the ‘tussle’ for the ministerial slot(s) between Ayade and his former Health Commissioner, Betta Edu, Jarigbe came clear that, “we can all see that Ayade is up against his supposed mentee, for the ministerial position coming to Cross River State. His supposed mentee is even miles ahead of him, in consideration for that position. He is also at the tribunal to compromise an election I defeated him in, with about twenty thousand votes. This is a man that I was in the forefront of making governor in 2015, when (former) Gov. Imoke practically spoon fed him to becoming a governor.”
“Everyone knows Ayade was rejected by our People. His rejection affected even the House of Assembly Elections, where his Party only clinched one Seat out of six House of Assembly seats in Cross River North. My Party (PDP) won four seats. Is this not enough evidence to show that he was rejected?. He came on TV to shamelessly tell lies against the Police and Military, because they refused to bully the electorate and rig the elections for him.”
“The clandestine attempts at compromising Justice and the Mandate of our People will not succeed. The only issue is that, I am being distracted by Ayade’s futile attempts and I cannot concentrate to deliver on the Mandate given by our People.”
The senator insisted that, “the people of Cross River North are suffering indirectly, because of the distractions from Ayade. Resources that should go to our People are being spent to secure the Mandate given to me, by our People. He doesn’t want us to attract infrastructural development to our deprived communities. Someone should advise him to apologize to our people, rather than inflict more pain. Where is the Ukelle Road he promised to do before the elections? Why was he chasing the contractors we sent there away? Wickedness personified. Only the Will of God prevails”, he specifically stated.
Ayade and Jarigbe are locked in a legal battle for the senatorial seat that the latter presently occupies.