Ex-Gov Ayade loses as Court of Appeal gives verdict in Cross River senatorial election

The Court of Appeal Court sitting in Lagos has dismissed the petition by the former governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, challenging the victory of Jarigbe Jarigbe in the Cross River North 2023 senatorial district election.

The court on Saturday, November 4, affirmed Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election.

The court also awarded N500,000 against the former governor, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election, in favour of the incumbent senator, The Punch reported.

It would be recalled that Ayade lost the February election to Senator Jarigbe. Jarigbe polled 76,145 votes to defeat Ayade, also a former senator, who had 56,595 votes.

Not satisfied with the outcome of the poll, the former governor filed a petition at the Cross River State National Assembly Election Petitions sitting in Calabar. However, the tribunal affirmed Jarigbe as the winner and dismissed Ayade’s petition for lack of merit.

His efforts to get a favourable verdict at the appeal court also failed as the court dismissed the petition.

Jarigbe is a two-time member of the House of Representatives. He was elected into the Senate through a bye-election in September 2021 following the death of Dr Rose Okoh.