I Am Committed To My People, No Plan To Decamp From PDP-Sen. Jarigbe
By Ignatius Ushie
Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe representing Cross River North Senatorial district at the National Assembly has stated that his primary duties as an elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is to fulfill his social contract with his constituents, as he remains committed to the needs and welfare of the constituents, aside his legislative function of making laws and oversight functions as a Senator.
Sen Jarigbe made this known rccently when he hosted a delegation of Cross River State Journalists Forum (CROSSJOF) led by its interim chairman, Franscica Ogar in Abuja.
The visit is in line with CROSSJOF’s mandate of holding their elected officers as well as appointees of the federal government of Cross River state extraction accountable to their constituents and people as well.
Sen. Jarigbe noted that majorly he is set out to provide infrastructural facilities and also enhance human capital development of his constituents.
According to him, “We are set out to represent our people, we made some promises during the electioneering campaign 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.
“If you go to Ogoja, Obudu Yala, Bekwarra, Obanliku, you will discover that there’s no council ward, in the senatorial district that doesn’t have one infrastructural facility or the other from water, electricity, rural electrification, roads, building school blocks and furnishings, laboratory equipment.
“When you go to the health sector, we have provided from medicine to medical equipment, you go to some of this primary health care centers 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.
“The road to my own village was an eyesore I know that that is between Ogoja and Ibil in Ogoja local government, but by this week they are doing the stone base of the last phase of that road to Abakpa-that road is going to be motor-able and several other roads like the Boki road in Abakpa, I was born to meet that road in that dilapidated 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 .”
The Senate Committee Chairman on Gas, Senator Jarigbe said that he has empowered a few of his constituents with some funds to start businesses, supporting others with school fees, “but right now, I think we have deliberately embarked on scholarships, programs 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 Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), they are studying abroad in, in the UK and several other European countries. So we are doing our best in that direction. On human capital development Jarigbe said, “we have that in different phases, those who want to go to school, those who want to do business, we are doing our best to support them, we have empowered a few of our people with funds to do business, we support our people in different phases”.
“I have some pending bills, including the establishment of the federal medical center, which has gone through the second reading and have gone to the public hearing, so we expect that we get to third reading and takien to Mr President for assent”.
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.
On the proposed creation of additional states, he said, “The issue about creation of state will be novel 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.
