ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, has been defeated in his bid to return to the Senate after completing his tenure as Governor.
Ayade is rounding up his second term as the State Governor this year and had hoped to return to the Senate after leading the State having first served as a Senator from 2011 to 2015.
The Governor was, however, defeated by the incumbent, Senator Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe.
Agom-Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 76,145 votes, while Ayade polled 56,595.
Declaring the result, the returning officer, Dr. Emmanuel Emanghe, said: “By the powers conferred on me as the Returning Officer of the Northern Senatorial District, I hereby announce Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party elected for the Northern Senatorial District.”
Meanwhile, Governor Ayade had risen to power as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He was elected into the Senate in 2011 as a candidate of the PDP in 2011 and as Governor in 2015.
He was also re-elected Governor as a PDP member, before defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), in 2021.
Agom-Jarigbe, however, chose to remain in the PDP.