February 06, (THEWILL) – Senator representing Cross River North in the National Assembly Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe has explained his neutrality during the primaries conducted by the PDP for the vacant Ogoja Yala federal constituency seat.
The PDP primaries which held at Ogoja produced Hon. Mike Usibe as the flag bearer of the party.
Senator Jarigbe, while reacting to the outcome of the excercise said he has been a victim of manipulated primaries in previous elections.
He said this was an opportunity for him to walk and talk and wanted the elections to be won and lost on the field.
In his words, “There is probably no politician who has enjoyed massive support from everyone in the very recent past as myself.
“Every aspirant in this primary election was/is my brother, sister, friend and ardent supporter. I appreciate this and I will never take this for granted.
“Each one of these aspirants asked for my support and felt entitled to it; I agree that each and every one of them deserved my support.
“However, the best way I felt I could give that support was to stay as neutral as possible.
“I have been a victim of manipulated primaries and I felt this was my opportunity to walk the talk, and I did this to the best of my abilities, without succumbing to pressure and sentiments put forward by interested parties.
“I could have moved towards asking this or that aspirant to step down, but that, in my estimation, would have been a glaring testimony that I have taken sides.
“I wanted this election to be won and lost on the field and we provided a level playing field. Now, that the primary elections have come and gone, we need to come together as one big family,” Senator Jarigbe said.
He called on all to
come together because we have a party to build, an election to win this month and all the elections in 2023.
While congratulating the winner, he said “Let’s bond together fast, before outsiders who can never love and support us as much as we do among ourselves, deceive us about greener pastures elsewhere that don’t exist”, the senator said.
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
