From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The jostle for legislative seats has continued to gather momentum as 158 aspirants have been screened by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) National and State House of Assembly screening committees.
There are 36 legislative seats in the state. The breakdown made available to Daily Sun by the various committees showed that 8 aspirants were screened for the 3 senatorial seats, 28 aspirants for the House of Representatives seats and 122 for the 25 House of Assembly slots in the state.
Further breakdown showed that Sen. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe of the northern senatorial district is the only unopposed aspirant, while central and southern senatorial districts have 4 and 3 aspirants respectively for the senatorial race.
Speaking after the presentation of the provisional clearance certificate to the aspirants at the party secretariat in Calabar, the Chairman of the State Assembly Screening Committee, Mr Ikede Uzazi Godswill, said they cleared all the 122 aspirants who bought forms and urged them to go to the field and campaign.
Speaking on the outcome, the State Publicity Secretary, Comrade Mike Ojisi, commended the committees for conducting transparent and thorough screening and added that it is an indication that the party is committed to promoting internal democracy.
On the issue of the northern senatorial district coming up with only one aspirant, Sen Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, Ojisi said it is unprecedented that somebody can emerge unopposed in a zone that has five local government areas, implying that Sen Jarigbe has shown character, capacity and has performed beyond expectation.
He enjoined all the cleared aspirants to continue their peaceful campaigns as the party want to produce the best candidates to be able to win the general election.