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WHY APPEAL COURT AFFIRMED JARIGBE PDP SENATORIAL CANDIDATE

Published

6 years ago

December 18, 2020

Cyril Ogar

The battle for the Cross River North Senatorial seat which was won by the Peoples Democratic Party at the December 5, rescheduled elections has taken a different 24 hours after Dr. Stephen Odey was sworn in by the Clerk of the Senate.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja declared Hon. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe as the duly nominated candidate of the PDP and the rightful winner of the election against Dr. Odey who was declared by INEC and sworn in by the Senate.

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal affirmed the declaration of Jarigbe as the duly elected candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Cross River North senatorial bye-election that held on December 5, 2020.

Justice Binta Mohammed of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had in her judgment declared Jarigbe as the valid candidate of the party for the senatorial bye-election.

Dissatisfied, his challenger, John Alaga approached the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment of the trial court.

However, in a unanimous judgment, the appellate court dismissed the appeal as frivolous, vexatious, an abuse of court process.

Justice Peter Ige held that have not participated in the primary election of the party, the appellant lacked the locus standi to institute the suit.

“The appellant lacked the locus standi to institute the suit in the first place. I wonder why the trial court did not make a pronouncement on this. Only a person who participated in the primary election or a political party that has the power to challenge the outcome of the election and not a third party who did not participate in the election.

“There is no evidence before the court that the appellant participated in the primary election. He only exhibited his party card and no other exhibit. The action of the appellant is a gross abuse of the court process.

Justice Ige further held that the facts stated by the respondents to the appeal in their affidavit evidence are well-founded and have not been contradicted by the appellant.

“The materials put forward by the 1st and 2nd respondents have dislodged the evidence adduced by the appellant.

The court also held that the appellant did not prove allegations of forgery which is criminal in nature and needed to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The court accordingly dismissed the appeal for lacking in. merit and award a cost of N250, 000 against the appellant in favor of the 1st respondent and N100,000 in favor of the 2nd defendant.

Justice Binta Mohammed had in her judgment, held that contrary to the claim of the claimant, John Alaga, the defendant (Jarigbe) did not supply any false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in his INEC Form CF001 by purporting to have sat for / and or obtained educational qualification making him eligible to contest for the Cross River North Senatorial Bye-election.

The court also held that the Cross River North Senatorial primary election of the PDP wherein Jarigbe (1st defendant) was nominated as the Senatorial candidate was conducted with the authentic list of the Ward and Local Government Area Executives of the party.

Justice Mohammed further held that “the first defendant having won the highest number of valid votes at the said primary election is validly nominated as the candidate of the PDP for the Cross River North Senatorial Bye election scheduled to hold on October 31, 2020, or any other date.

That the primary election of the PDP for the Cross River North Senatorial held on September 5, 2020, was duly nominated by INEC (2nd defendant) and therefore valid and in accordance with the law.

The Court, therefore, directed INEC, sued as the second Defendant, to include and publish the name of Hon. Jarigbe on the list of candidates for the bye-election scheduled for 5th December 2020. The INEC was also further ordered to give Hon. Jarigbe every other right and privileges pertaining to his lawful qualification and nomination as the PDP candidate.

The Court also ordered the INEC to immediately issue a Certificate of Return to Hon. Jarigbe and withdraw the one earlier issued to Dr. Stephen Odey.

In its unanimous judgment, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of the trial court that the primaries which produced Jarigbe were conducted with the correct and authentic list of delegates and that Hon Jarigbe having scored the highest number of valid votes in the primary election is the validly nominated candidate of the PDP.

The Appeal Court also upheld the position of the Federal High Court that the primary election was duly monitored by the INEC in line with the law hence was a valid primary election of the PDP.

This judgment has abruptly halted the seeming advantage Dr. Stephen Odey got yesterday when he was invited by the Clerk of the Senate to take his oath of office and allegiance. This is despite another order of the FCT High Court which restrained the Senate from swearing Dr. Odey is a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

By this judgment and until the Supreme Court gives its final judgment, Hon. Jarigbe is expected to be sworn in immediately to sit to represent the good people of Cross River North Senatorial District

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Business

Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda

Published

4 days ago

September 29, 2026

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

For decades, Africa’s vast natural resources have powered industries and economies far beyond the continent, while many African countries have remained largely exporters of unprocessed commodities and importers of finished products.

That familiar pattern is now coming under renewed scrutiny as policymakers, researchers, investors and industrialists seek to change the direction of Africa’s resource economy.

At the centre of that conversation is the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, under the theme: “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the summit is being positioned as more than another gathering of policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is intended to provide a platform for confronting the structural challenges that have kept African raw materials largely disconnected from local manufacturing.

Africa has for years operated largely within a “pit-to-port” economic model, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the summit on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, said the event would bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, technology providers and industrialists to develop practical strategies for transforming Africa’s abundant natural resources into industrial wealth.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply the abundance of resources, but the continent’s ability to transform those resources into industrial value, employment, technology and wealth within Africa.

Nigeria alone, according to the RMRDC, has more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while the wider continent possesses substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural raw materials and industrial feedstock.

Yet, the benefits of this resource endowment have often been constrained by inadequate processing capacity, weak infrastructure, limited technology, financing gaps and fragmented regional value chains.

From Dialogue to Industrial Action

ARMS 2026 builds on the maiden edition held in May 2025, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.

The inaugural summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Ten-Year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap (2025–2034) by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owen Enoh.

The roadmap was designed around areas including technological capability, climate-resilient processing and backward integration, establishing a policy framework for greater domestic utilisation of Africa’s raw materials.

The second edition is expected to move the conversation further by bringing policy, capital, technology and industrial stakeholders around practical mechanisms for turning raw materials into locally manufactured products.

One of the major proposals highlighted by the RMRDC is the 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill, which seeks to establish a statutory minimum level of value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.

The Council says the proposed framework could support job creation, import substitution, foreign-exchange conservation and increased manufacturing contribution to the economy.

Building the Infrastructure for Value Addition

The industrial transformation envisaged by ARMS 2026 goes beyond legislation.

A major concern is the “missing middle” between where raw materials are produced and where factories are located.

Poor transportation networks, inadequate cold-chain facilities, weak rural roads, limited testing and certification infrastructure and border-related delays can make locally sourced materials more expensive and less competitive.

Consequently, logistics and infrastructure constitute one of the five principal pillars of the summit.

The objective is to develop more reliable corridors connecting farms and mines with processing centres and manufacturing facilities, thereby reducing losses and improving the movement of industrial inputs.

The Digital Dimension

Technology is also becoming an important part of the Council’s strategy.

The RMRDC says it has developed the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP), described as a digital repository containing information on feedstock deposits, specifications, production outputs and industrial absorption rates.

The Council has also highlighted its transition towards paperless operations and its certification as a Data Controller/Processor of Major Importance by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

Such digital infrastructure could provide investors and manufacturers with better information about the availability and characteristics of raw materials while supporting more informed industrial planning.

Turning Waste Into Industrial Inputs

Another major component of ARMS 2026 is the proposed expansion of the circular economy.

The summit will examine how agricultural by-products, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and reused as inputs for new production processes rather than being treated simply as waste.

The RMRDC argues that such an approach could lower raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing systems.

For Africa, where industrial expansion must increasingly balance economic development with environmental considerations, waste industrialisation could become an important part of the continent’s manufacturing conversation.

From National Production to African Value Chains

The African Continental Free Trade Area is another important element of the summit’s agenda.

The RMRDC sees AfCFTA as an opportunity to create regional value chains in which raw materials sourced in one African country can be processed and supplied to manufacturers in another.

Under such a model, Africa would move beyond simply exporting commodities to external markets and develop stronger internal networks for supplying chemicals, refined minerals, agricultural inputs and other industrial materials across national borders.

This approach places regional integration at the heart of Africa’s industrialisation strategy.

Bridging Research and Capital

A recurring weakness in many developing economies is the gap between research and commercialisation.

Innovations may emerge from universities, research institutions and laboratories without receiving the financing, equipment or market connections required to become commercially viable.

ARMS 2026 intends to address that gap through technology commercialisation and capital linkages, connecting research outputs with investors, development finance institutions and industrial off-takers.

The RMRDC has also cited partnerships with the Bank of Industry for commercial-scale post-harvest processing and a South-South technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Centre par Excellence in Shanghai, China.

A Larger Industrial Conversation

The scale of ARMS 2026 is expected to be significantly larger than the maiden edition.

The organisers project more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries and global industrial partners.

The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, technical panels, an advanced raw materials and technology exhibition, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.

The exhibition, in particular, is expected to showcase locally fabricated processing machinery, advanced domestic materials, green chemicals and engineered commercial inputs.

Beyond the speeches and exhibitions, however, the real significance of ARMS 2026 will ultimately depend on what happens after the summit.

Africa’s challenge has never been a shortage of raw materials. The more difficult question has been how to transform those resources into factories, products, skilled employment, technology and sustainable economic opportunities.

For Nigeria and the rest of the continent, the proposed shift from “pit-to-port” to “feedstock-to-factory” therefore represents a broader debate about the future structure of African economies.

ARMS 2026 seeks to place that debate firmly on the industrial agenda — with value addition, technology, finance, infrastructure, circular production and regional trade at the centre.

If the commitments and partnerships generated by the summit translate into measurable industrial activity, the event could provide another platform for Africa to examine how its enormous resource base can support stronger domestic manufacturing.

The message from the organisers is clear: the continent’s raw materials should not only leave African soil as commodities; they should increasingly become the foundation for African industrial production

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