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A member of the House of Representatives representing Ogoja/Yala federal constituency and Senator-elect for Cross River North Senatorial zone, Hon. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe has raised an alarm that some National Assembly (NASS) staff deliberately kept his file away from Senate President Ahmad Lawan for over two weeks to delay his swearing-in.
Recall that the Supreme Court had on February 25, 2021 sacked Senator Stephen Odey and declared Jarigbe as the authentic Senator-elect for Cross River North.
Long after the judgment, Odey has been attending plenary and sponsoring motions on the floor of the Senate.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Jarigbe alleged that his opponent, Odey and the State Governor, Ben Ayade were frustrating his efforts, lamenting that some unscrupulous administrative staff in the parliament for obvious reasons decided to sit on his case file to forestall his being sworn in.
He said it was the intervention of the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Arc. Amos Ojo that eventually made it possible for the Senate President to see his file.
“The Supreme Court delivered that judgement on the 25th of February, 2021 and it took us about weeks to get a copy of the judgment signed by the Justice that read the lead judgement. We have communicated that judgement 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 the table of the senate president on Wednesday.
“There are a few people down the administrative line in the National Assembly who decided to sit on the file and ensured that it did not get to the Senate president. But we moved in with some members of the House and spoke with the Clerk of the National Assembly,” he said.
Jarigbe described the action of his opponent attending plenary as illegal despite being sacked by the court.
“We sought to know what was wrong and why my opponent, Stephen Odey who was ousted by the judgement of the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court is still attending plenary — that is illegal”, he stated.
The Cross River Lawmakers explained that “I have a certificate of return, which has been issued to me a long time ago based on the Appeal Court judgement, which actually invalidated his certificate of return and that has been transmitted to the National Assembly.”
“He is still attending plenary and we thought with the Supreme Court judgement, this issue would have been resolved and put to rest. Unfortunately, someone down the line sat on my file. But the CNA took it upon himself to go and investigate. The Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly has advised and the director of legal services has also submitted his legal advice. Based on this advice, the CNA advised the Senate President to swear me in and the file is before the Senate President now”, he disclosed.
Jarigbe expressed optimism that he will be swon in by the Senate President. “I know that the Senate President will conform to the judgement of the Supreme Court. Since the certificate of return has been issued to me by INEC, it means INEC has implemented the judgement of the Appeal and Supreme Courts. Therefore, with the certificate of return, I am supposed to be sworn in as the Senator-elect for Cross River North”.
He accused Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River of being the brain behind his ordeal. “I know the Senate President is very experienced; the leadership of the National Assembly is also on top of its game and I have been a parliamentarian so I know how it works here. But my opponent is new to the system here and thinks things can be manipulated at this level. I am not surprised because as a rookie, he thinks things could be done the same way it is done in Cross River state where impunity reigns.”
“Therefore, coming with that mentality here, he continues attending plenary even when he is no longer a Senator. This is an aberration and I want the leadership of the senate led by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan to critically look at this.
“Whether I am not sworn in immediately because of certain bureaucratic protocols that have to be followed, the man who is attending plenary illegally, Stephen Odey should be stopped from desecrating the parliament. I know and trust that the senate leadership will do the needful,” Jarigbe stated.