Cross River North Senatorial Election: Court dismisses Ayade’s petition, affirms Jarigbe as winner
Cross River North Senatorial Election: Court dismisses Ayade’s petition, affirms Jarigbe as winner
Former Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, has lost his petition challenging Jarigbe Jarigbe’s victory in the 2023 Cross River North senatorial district election.
The Court of Appeal in Lagos upheld the victory of Jarigbe, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the February election and ordered Ayade, who contested as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, to pay N500,000 to the incumbent senator.
Jarigbe secured 76,145 votes in the election while Ayade had 56,595 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, Ayade filed a petition at the Cross River State National Assembly Election Petitions sitting in Calabar, but the tribunal affirmed Jarigbe as the winner and dismissed Ayade’s petition for lack of merit.
Ayade’s efforts to get a favourable verdict at the appeal court failed as the court dismissed his petition.
Jarigbe, a two-time member of the House of Representatives, was elected into the Senate through a bye-election in September 2021 following the death of Dr. Rose Okoh.