“I Remain The Senator Representing CR North” – Stephen Odey Insists, Lawyer Disagrees

While a split Supreme Court decision in Abuja today, may have finally laid to rest the lingering political crisis in Cross River North Senatorial District, as it declared Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, as Senator-elect of the district, sitting senator, Stephen Odey has exclusively told www.calitown.com that he remains the senator representing CR North in Nigeria’s senate.

Speaking not too long ago to this paper, Odey maintained that, “this judgement is just like the January 6th, 2021, Appeal Court judgement where people speculated and it came to nothing. If I appealed what was done and a lower court says Jarigbe Agom was a candidate of the PDP, being a candidate does not translate to you being a candidate to contest election; he didn’t contest the election and so even in the judgement that was delivered by the Supreme Court, it was on a preliminary injunction of improper service, no substantive matter was discussed and they didn’t make any pronouncement(s) about my seat. It is only a tribunal that can remove me from the Senate as I stand. So the Supreme Court hasn’t made any consequential order removing me, Senator Stephen Odey from the Senate. I want the world to be clear on this because I am speaking to you as a lawyer. Don’t believe what you have all seen on social media, it is not the law.”

But Calabar-based legal practitioner, James Ibor punched holes in Odey’s submission(s), stating clearly that, “the matter got to the Supreme Court because there was a judgement of the FCT High Court that compelled INEC to give Jarigbe Agom a Certificate of Return, CoR. It was then on the basis of the Court of Appeal affirming this judgement the CoR was issued and Odey’s team made an application seeking to have the Supreme Court judgement set aside the consequential order made by Justice Binta of the FCT High Court and affirmed by the Court of Appeal stands. If the order has been affirmed by the CA, it stands. The question anybody will ask is, what was the order? The Supreme Court will not make a consequential order because there were subsisting consequential orders that Odey sought to challenge but his application has failed and unfortunately for him, he cannot appeal the Supreme Court decision.”

Jarigbe Agom was unavailable for comments at press time. Mean while, varied sections of the media in Cross River State and beyond, await the release of the Supreme Court judgement believed to have been a split one as four Justices voted in Jarigbe’s favour against Odey’s two.