By Bassey Inyang
Controversy has continued to trail the outcome of the primary election for the candidate to fly the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Cross River North senatorial district bye-election billed for October 31, as a member of the House of Representative, Mr. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, declared himself the winner of the primary election held last Saturday at the Ogoja council hall.
Reacting to the outcomes of the primaries, Jarigbe, who is the member representing Ogoja/Yala federal constituency, declared that he is the authentic candidate of the PDP for the bye-election going by the result announced by the committee that conducted the polls.
In a statement made available to journalists yesterday, Jarigbe said he remains the authentic candidate of the PDP having polled 381 votes to beat his closest rival, Dr. Stephen Odey, who scored 71 votes.
The statement signed by the lawmaker read: “I am the authentic winner of the PDP primaries held in Ogoja yesterday. I thank my people for giving me their votes and for trusting in me as the struggle to liberate our state continues.
“My election was observed by INEC monitoring team from Abuja led by Mr. Modibbo Belel at Ogoja with list of authentic delegates as declared by the court.
“Let me also restate that it was supervised by members of the PDP electoral panel, including Ibiok Esu and Kenneth Zota.
“I urge all my people in the northern senatorial district to remain calm and work hard for our eventual emergence in the October 31, 2020, bye-election. We pleaded with all to remain steadfast.”
Last Saturday, two different results were announced for the bye-election characterised initially by violence.
The Chairman of the electoral panel for the primary election, Hon. Olorogun Taleb Tebite, had declared Odey winner, saying he polled 450 votes ahead of Jarigbe, who garnered 90 votes.
