Ahmed Lawan swore in Senator Jarigbe Jarigbe of the Cross River North Senatorial District on Wednesday. Jarigbe assumes the role of the new Chief of Staff after Stephen Odeh was dismissed for the same position by the Appeal Court on July 31st.
A by-election was held and Odeh won the People’s Democratic Party platform, which led to his inauguration as a senator. Calabar Court of Appeal declared Jarigbe senator-elect on July 31, 2021, following the December 5, 2020, Cross River North Senatorial District by-election.
Election Petition Tribunal had proclaimed Senator Stephen Odey the winner, but a three-member panel led by Justice Chiama Iheme-Nwosu overturned that decision. When it came time to decide the case, the court found that the tribunal erred by deciding on an issue over which it did not have jurisdiction.
According to Justice Iheme-Nwosu, the tribunal’s decision not to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling on the true candidate of the People’s Democratic Party was an insult. It is our humble and strong opinion that the tribunal erred when it threw out all three court rulings and declared the first respondent (Odey) as a legally elected candidate,‘ the judge stated.
It has been determined that the Calabar court has no jurisdiction to review and change the Calabar court’s judgment on the Cross River Senatorial District By-Election. On the first application, Joe Agi and the All Progressives Congress, the court reached a unanimous decision. There is no authority for them to make any decisions in this matter.
On Saturday, Monica Dongban Mensem, presiding judge of the court of appeal, addressed this issue in her rulings. The five-member panel, led by Justice Dongban-Mensem, ruled that the applicants had not demonstrated any error that would allow the court to revise its ruling. After fulfilling its judicial obligations under Section 246 of the Constitution, she said, “the court has been declared functus officio”.
