THE Cross River and Enugu states’ governors have lost their senatorial bids following the National Assembly elections held on Saturday, February 25.
Governor Ben Ayade of the Cross River State lost his senatorial ambition to the incumbent senator representing the Cross River North, Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 76,145 votes.
Ayade, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, came second with 56,595 votes.
Ayade was in the Senate between 2011 and 2015.
The result of the poll was announced at about 3:05am on Monday, February 27, by the returning officer Emmanuel Emanghe.
Agom-Jarigbe, a two-time member of the House of Representatives, was elected into the Senate through a by-election in September 2021 following the death of Rose Okoh.
However, he could not be issued the declaration form by the returning officer, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the certificate was mistakenly taken to Obudu.
Speaking on the telephone with NAN, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Professor Gabriel Yomere, 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.”
Similarly, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State lost his senatorial bid to the Labour Party (LP) candidate for the district, Okechukwu Ezea.
The Returning Officer for the election, Chukwuemeka Ubaka, announced the result at the collation centre of the INEC in Nsukka Local Government Area headquarters on Monday at about 5:20am.
The LP candidate Okechukwu Ezea polled a total of 104,492 votes to defeat Ugwuanyi of the PDP, who secured a total 46,948 votes.
The All Progressives Congress candidate for the district, Ejike Eze, garnered 6,816 votes.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M