Meet The Major Contenders Battling To Succeed Ben Ayade In Cross Rivers

As Cross River State joins 27 other states to elect new governors at the March 18 poll on Saturday, the battle on who to succeed the current state governor, Ben Ayade is left to the about 1,672,810 electorates in its 18 local government areas to decide.

Naija News understands that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has about 11 political parties registered for the governorship election in the state.

However, the battle for Ayade’s successor seems to be between the two major contenders of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Bassey Otu with his running mate Peter Odey and the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), Sandy Ojang Onor and his running mate Emana Ambrose-Amawhe.

Here is what you need to know about candidates contesting to succeed Ayade at the March 18 polls.

All Progressive Congress (APC)- Bassey Otu

Bassey Otu, the APC governorship candidate in Cross Rivers state emerged winner with 811 votes at the party’s primary election last year.

Hitherto contesting for the governorship seat, Otu was elected Senator for Cross River South in the April 2011 elections on the platform of the PDP. But he defected to the APC in 2016 and won the candidature for his senatorial bid in 2019 on the platform of the APC.

Before then he was elected a house of representative member for the Calabar Municipal/Odukpani constituency of Cross River State and served two terms, from 2003 – 2011.

He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Calabar and was in the banking sector before going into politics.

Otu hails from Adiabo in the Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – Sandy Onor

Sandy Onor, the PDP governorship candidate in Cross Rivers emerged winner at the party’s primary election last year with 236 votes in a keenly contested election.

Before his venturing into the governorship race, he was elected Senator in 2019 to represent Cross River Central Senatorial District in the 9th Assembly on the platform of the PDP.

Onor has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calabar and also holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History from the same university.

He hails from Ikom in the Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State.