Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The senator representing Cross River North Senatorial District, Agom Jarigbe, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba, seeking the arrest and prosecution of the state’s Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alphonsus Eba, and 14 others for various electoral offences.
Jarigbe, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded National Assembly elections, stated this while addressing journalists in his office in Abuja on Monday.
The senator has been re-elected for a second term by his constituents in last Saturday’s polls.
He lamented that the APC chairman, a serving member of the Governor Ben Ayade’s government (names witheld), and a senior officer of the state police command allegedly connived to perpetrate acts of violence and intimidation during the exercise.
He, however, vowed that: “Whether or not the IG carries out disciplinary action on his officers or Alphonsus Eba, I will still go to court on grounds of defamation of character.”
The senator said: “I emerged victorious in that election with 76,145 votes, while the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), the sitting Governor of Cross River State, Benedict Ayade, came second with 56,595 votes. A clear difference of 19,550 votes. Our people made it abundantly clear that I was their choice.
“There is abundance of proof in public domain that the APC committed several electoral offences in their bid to rig the last election in Cross River State in general, and Cross River North in particular.
“The party (allegedly) unleashed armed thugs to terrorize, intimidate and bully voters and their perceived opponents during the election.
“The security agencies are fully aware of this. The DSS arrested one of the most dreaded of these armed thugs, one Ukpan Odey; also arrested a serving commissioner (name witheld) with guns and ammunitions. These arrests struck fear in their camp and other armed thugs went into hiding.
“Sadly, these suspects have been released without prosecution, and with their release, others who went into hiding have all returned and baring their fangs publicly, daring the security operatives to do their worst.
“One of such daredevil thug who went into hiding is one Tompolo, who had since returned and was seen in broad daylight, wielding two guns in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State.
“The release of these suspects has created the impression that the security agencies are powerless in the face of their armed thuggery.”
He also said that a fake Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official procured to manipulate results in Yache Ward was also arrested, with a fake BVAS machine and handed over to security agents.
Jarigbe said: “In spite of our protests, the results of that ward was collated alongside other results. This broad daylight electoral fraud still came to nought; we still came up victorious.
“It is surely a wonder that a man who was caught on camera disrupting collation of results at an INEC collation centre to turn around and be writing frivolous petition against us, when he should be facing charges for electoral offences.”
Jarigbe expressed shock that rather than parading those arrested but later released, the state police command allegedly paraded strange faces before journalists.
“The Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, CSP Irene Ugbo, stated that I have been invited to answer questions relating to the arrest of those paraded. This statement made by Irene Ugbo, the PPRO had no correlation with the written statement of the suspects.
“It is a sad day indeed, when our security agents will ignore tonnes of evidence against a political party and their chairman who attempted to disrupt a peaceful election, but rather begin to act on their frivolous and baseless petitions to impugn the character of a senator.
“I call on the Inspector General of Police to immediately use his good office to put a stop to this show of shame going on in Cross River State.
“I also call on the Inspector General of Police to immediately arrest Alphonsus Eba and charge him for electoral offences as outlined in the Electoral Act. There is enough documentary evidence in form of pictures and videos to prosecute and convict him for electoral offences,” Jarigbe stated.
