Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade has lost his bid to return to the Senate following his defeat by the incumbent senator representing Cross River North, Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe.
Ayade, who was in the Senate between 2011 and 2015, lost the National Assembly elections conducted on Saturday with 56,595 votes against Agom-Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 76,145 votes.
The returning officer, Emmanuel Emanghe, who spoke on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced the result for the polls on Monday.
Agom-Jarigbe, a two-time member of the House of Representatives, was elected into the Senate through a bye-election in September 2021 following the death of Rose Okoh.
Ayade, who is serving out his two-term as governor of the state, sought to replace Mr Agom-Jarigbe as the Senator representing the Northern senatorial district of Cross River.
However, the re-elected senator could not be issued the declaration form after his declaration by the returning officer.
Upon demand for the declaration form, Agom-Jarigbe was told that it was mistakenly taken to Obudu by the electoral body in the state.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Gabriel Yomere, a professor, who spoke by telephone said, “the form was mistakenly taken to Obudu but he can be issued with a temporary one pending when the original one will be brought.”
Meanwhile, Senator Godswill Akpabio has been declared winner of the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial election by INEC
He polled a total of 115,401 votes to defeat Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem of the PDP who scored 69,838 votes
