By Musa Yaro, Calabar
The Northern Cross River Progressives Forum, has asked the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, to accept defeat in the last northern senatorial election.
Ayade lost the battle for the Senate to the incumbent Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP), who polled 76,145 as against Ben Ayade (APC) who scored 56,595.
The socio political group, in a statement by its chairman, Ntufam Ogar Odey, and secretary, Peter Agaba, and made available to newsmen in Calabar after an emergency meeting, described the NASS election in Cross River North as free, fair and most credible.
According to the Forum, “our stand has become inevitable in order to caution and restrain an individual without any direct positive impact on our developmental aspirations from continuously depleting our common patrimony in pursuit of a selfish motive he embarked upon since our former lawmaker, late Senator Rose Oko passed on in 2020.”
The group further described the decision of Ayade to challenge the victory of Jarigbe in the Senate election as “the height of insensitivity given the overwhelming support enjoyed by Jarigbe across the north which is attributable to his achievements despite a short spell in the Senate.
“We in the North decided to vote massively for Senator Jarigbe across party lines given his visible projects across our 54 political wards. Ayade as a Governor for about eight years could not achieve half of what Jarigbe did in about one and half years as a Senator.
“Let the governor dare not provoke our people by wanting to once again feast on the state treasury to prosecute his tribunal case. Let him desist from stoking the flame of violence and disunity amongst our people through politics.
“Our people were resolute, even in the face of thuggery, intimidation, destruction of property, and bluntly rejected huge amount voted for vote buying during the National Assembly polls,” the group maintained.
The group further said “we are monitoring proceedings at the Election Tribunal and are aware that the governor has already misfired by pleading for Presidential results which includes Forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C and EC8D as against Senatorial Elections results which include Forms EC8A1, EC8B1, EC8C1 and EC8D1.
“In law, the evidence tendered, must support the pleadings, leave Senator Jarigbe alone because he won the election, freely and fairly,” it said.
