Honorable Agom Jarigbe, the Senator-elect for Cross River North Senatorial District, has appealed to the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan to swear him into office, warning against further delay.
The Supreme Court, had on February 25, 2021, declared Jarigbe as the duly-elected Senator of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Cross River North Senatorial bye-election held on December 5, 2020, nullifying the candidacy of Senator Stephen Odey, as the authentic candidate of the PDP.
Jarigbe, who is currently serving as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ogoja/Yala Federal Constituency, has already been issued a Certificate of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the substantive candidate of the PDP, following the judgement of the Supreme Court.
However, his swearing-in to the red chambers has been delayed. He blamed his ordeal on antics of some unidentified National Assembly staffers, who stopped his file from getting to the Senate President.
Jarigbe further appealed to the Senate President to immediately stop Odey from desecrating the parliamentary, as he has no right to be in the red chambers.
In his words, “The Supreme Court delivered that judgment on February 25, 2021 and it took us weeks to get a copy of the judgment signed by the Justice that read the lead judgment. We have communicated that judgment to the National Assembly through our lawyers, but it took sometime for the file to reach the table of the Senate President. The file only got to his table on Wednesday. I have a Certificate of Return, which was issued to me, based on The Appeal Court’s judgement, which actually invalidated his Certificate of Return. That was transmitted to the National Assembly. I know the Senate President will conform to the Supreme Court’s judgment. Since the Certificate of Return has been issued to me by INEC, it means INEC has implemented the judgment of both the Appeal and Supreme Courts. Therefore, I am supposed to be sworn-in as Senator. Even if I am not sworn-in immediately because of certain bureaucratic protocols, Stephen Odey should be stopped from desecrating the parliament. I know and trust that the Senate leadership will do the needful…”
