From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, the lawmaker representing Cross River North in the National Assembly, has publicly disputed former Cross River Governor Ben Ayade’s claim of working for President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 election.
Senator Jarigbe said Prof. Ayade lost Cross River to the opposition and had no impact on the president’s win.
He disclosed this in a message posted on his Facebook page titled “Senator Ayade distorts facts: We put the facts right”.
Jarigbe said Ayade “lied when he said he worked for Mr President in 2023”, emphasising that Ayade contested the APC presidential primary, lost “woefully” to Tinubu, and refused to step down.
“In the general election, he lost Cross River State to the opposition. Why is he lying?” Jarigbe said.
Senator Jarigbe also listed the party’s 2023 performance in his senatorial zone, saying, “We won my Senate seat, two House of Representatives seats and four House of Assembly seats. Senator Ayade, as sitting governor, won only the House of Assembly seat in his immediate state constituency.”
He added that Ayade left the Senate seat to run for governor when it was the turn of the north to produce a governor, and later joined the APC only after losing control of the PDP structure in the state.
“Let it be on record that, Senator Ayade only left PDP for APC, after we collected the PDP structure from him. He felt empty, displaced and dejected. He did not leave for the love of APC,” Jarigbe said.
The senator urged Ayade to “come and join hands with the leadership of the state and work for the party, just as we worked for him and made him Senator for 4 years and Governor for 8 years.”
He stressed that Ayade “deserves no reward” and that the president would appoint “realistic people and not those who build castles in the air”.
Prof. Ayade previously said Tinubu directed him to drop his Senate bid, a move he said he complied with despite feeling betrayed.
The latest clash comes after Jarigbe defected from the PDP to the APC, setting up a fresh contest for the APC ticket in Cross River North.
