The Senator representing Cross River Northern Senatorial District, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe has revealed that the failure of the Ayade-led administration in addressing the peculiar needs facing the Senatorial District propelled him to embark on intensive lobbying campaigns at the Senate aimed at attracting the various people-oriented projects to the area despite mounting the saddle merely a year ago.
Senator Jarigbe who spoke in Ogoja during a Town Hall meeting featuring the People Democratic Party, PDP, Governorship Campaign Team and Ogoja Stakeholders, lamented that despite having a sitting governor for almost eight years, the enviable privilege has not rubbed off on the district.
According to Jarigbe, “when providence smiled on us and our brother became a governor, we had high hopes and expectations that he will use his good offices to transform our senatorial district, which is regarded as the most backward in the state in terms of basic infrastructure and amenities, but ours turned out to be a huge disappointment and embarrassment”
“All we got are a plethora of lies, deceit, glorified warehouses christened ultra-modern factories and multiple signposts mounted on confiscated ancestral lands announcing proposed white elephant projects conceived as subheads to siphon public funds”
“Even the few projects they attempted to do, they awarded the contracts to their proxy companies which lacks competent manpower and standard equipment. The Okuku Okpama road which has killed dozen of our people is a typical example. Suffice it here to also mention the deplorable Obudu Bekwarra, Boki Obudu roads awarded to a family member over six years ago”
Senator Jarigbe explained that his quest for projects, capacity building, and targeted empowerment initiative become “inevitable to checkmate growing despondency which had crept in amongst the people since Governor Ben Ayade shattered their hopes and to correct the wrong impression that politicians from the area were perennial failures in public offices
Also speaking, the state PDP chairman, Barrister Vena Ikem said the party parade the best array of candidates with passion and capacity to deliver the dividends of democracy
Senator representing Cross River Northern Senatorial District, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe
In his remarks, an elder statesman and former chairman of the State Forestry Commission Dr Ikanni Woga lauded the PDP for producing candidates with sterling qualities suitable for the enormous task of reinventing the rhythm of Cross River after the dark spell witness under Ayade
