While the political tussle for the soul of Cross River North Senatorial seat continues, www.calitowm.com can reveal that, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, widely believed to be on the verge of being sworn-in as senator, CRN, has declared that Stephen Odey, who presently occupies the senatorial seat, should be stopped from attending plenary sessions in Nigeria’s senate.
Addressing a select corps of journalists in Abuja today, Jarigbe maintained that, “it is illegal for my opponent to be attending plenary sessions in the senate. We thought that with the Supreme Court judgement, there was going to be a resolution of these issue, but someone down the line sat on the file.” Explaining further, Jarigbe disclosed that, “the Clerk of the National Assembly, CNA, took it upon himself to go and investigate and know what is going on. The Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly has advised, the Director (Legal) has also submitted his legal advice and this has prompted the CNA to advise the Senate President to swear me in. The file is before the Senate President and I know he will respect the Supreme Court judgement.”
Taking a swipe at Odey, his opponent, Jarigbe declared that, “my opponent is new here and he thinks these things can be manipulated. As a rookie, you would feel that certain things can be done here, the same way they do them back in Cross River State; with impunity and coming with that mentality to this place, you begin to attend plenary when you are no more a senator. Whether or not I am sworn-in immediately, the man attending plenary must stop.”
For state governor, Ben Ayade, Jarigbe minced no words. Hear him: “I hear the governor of CRS says he has moved into Abuja to stop my inauguration. But the National Assembly is not an extension of CRS; it is a respected institution and no amount of money in the treasury of any state can take over the National Assembly. The governor can be running here and there with his boy that he wants to make a senator to see the leadership of the Senate but that is not my problem…the rule of law will be respected.” He additionally disclosed that “…because the governor wants to come back to the Senate in 2023, he has assumed the position of God. The animalistic tendency being displayed by the government of CRS; the governor and his people is unparalleled; very brutish in a democracy.”
Meanwhile, an aide of the governor, who has elected to remain anonymous told www.calitown.com on the heels of Jarigbe’s interaction with the press that, “it is so unfortunate that this political division has blossomed into a full blown political disagreement. I am aware that, sadly, some of us are financially benefiting from this division, to the detriment of our party, the PDP. Were advices taken, earlier on and personal ambitions subsumed, these ugly sights would have not been with us. Right now, it is so difficult to ask both parties to sheath their swords; only God will see us through this bad patch.”