By Ada Nkong
Following insinuations from some quarters that Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe representing Cross River North Senatorial District at the 10th National Assembly will cross carpet to APC to retain his seat, the Senator has stated that he will not leave PDP . He added that his primary duties as an elected senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is to fulfill his Social Contract with his constituents, outside his legislative function of making laws and oversighting.
Sen Jarigbe made this known on Friday, May 30, 2025 when he received a Delegation of Cross River State Journalists Forum (CROSSJOF) led by its Interim Chairman, Franscica Ogar in his Abuja residence.
Sen. Jarigbe emphasized that he is primarily committed to providing infrastructural facilities as well as enhance human capital development of his constituents. He added that,
within the last two years, he has been able to achieve most of his Social Contract with his people,
“We are set out to represent our people, we made some promises during the electioneering campaigns and we’ve kept to those promises and it’s work in progress, take a look at the 2024 budget, they just approved 2025 budget which is yet to be implemented, I can read out all the projects I have done to you but majorly we set out to provide infrastructural facilities and also enhance human capital development that’s our agenda primarily,”
he stated.
The Senator added further that,
“if you go to Ogoja, Obudu Yala, Bekwarra and Obanliku, you will discover that there is no council ward, in the Senatorial District that doesn’t have one infrastructural facility or the other from water, rural electrification, roads, building schools and furnishing, laboratory equipments.”
Continuing, he stated,
“When you go to the health sector we have provided from medicines to medical equipments, you go to some of these primary health care centres, you discover that before now they did not have simple things like glucometers, even thermometers, they couldn’t even take the vital signs of their patients. we try to make sure that those things are put in place. They say, charity begins at home, the road to my own village was an eyesore. I know that, that is between Ogoja and Ibil Local Government, but by this week, they will be doing the stone base of the last phase of that road to Abakpa. That road is going to be motorable and several other roads like the Boki road in Abakpa, I was born to meet that road in that delapilated state but today that road is fixed facilitated by my office and several other roads.I can go on and on but our people actually support what we are doing that’s why they voted for us overwhelmingly in the last election and gave us their mandate and as I said we have a Social Contract and we can do better,” he submitted.
Senator Jarigbe who chairs the Senate Committee on Gas, disclosed that he has empowered a few of his constituents with some funds for start-up businesses, also supporting others with school fees.
According to him,
“but right now, I think we have deliberately embarked on scholarships and bursary payments to our students, and we plan to pay bursary by next month. And a few of our people have been sent abroad, and they enjoyed the scholarship from NDDC and particularly PTDF, they are studying abroad in Europe, in the UK and all of that. So we are doing our best in that direction,” he stated.
On the number of the bills and motions he has sponsored in the 10th senate,, he said,
“ I have some pending bills, including the Establishment of the Federal medical Centre, which has gone through the Second Reading and has gone to the Public Hearing, so we expect that we get to Third Reading and be taken to Mr President for assent, basically that’s the major one, the other one are in various stages, the one I have my eyes on is the issue of the federal medical center and the other bills i sponsored like the issue of the federal university of technology got to the president table for assent and he declined including the federal polytechnic, Ogoja bill and all of that, that’s what happens when you are in the opposition, we pray that God does it someday for us”.
On the current defections of some opposition senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Jarigbe said he was not perturbed, stressing that he is a PDP senator and his people are in PDP, therefore, his constituents are appreciating him in PDP.
“Our politics is local you get what I mean, if I go to my place and tell my people I’m defecting, they will tell me to go but that they are not going, so it’s about your people, my people want to stay in PDP, so who ever defects has a reason for defecting I am not to judge anybody I will go with my people my people want us to stay in PDP and I will stay with my people, that’s not because we are fighting anybody but it’s about my senatorial district and I limit myself to that.”
On the proposed creation of additional states states, he said, “The issue about creation of state will be novelle if we have this particular president create states in Nigeria, it has never happened in a democratic dispensation but we don’t rule it out and we are going to do our best that we realize that! And if there’s one state that deserves to be created in Nigeria is the Ogoja state and I think Mr President will grant us that demand and the request for the Ogoja state,” he posited.
Meanwhile, the only PDP Senator from the state, Jarigbe has urged the people of Northern Cross River to be prayerful and hopeful for the best because “I am poised to delivering on the dividends of democracy and my social contract to them as I said before and also for the people of cross river state, I urge all of us to give the government of the state the full support to deliver so they are not distracted, because our people actually need governance taking to their doorsteps.”
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