In what may be seen as a disgraceful defeat, Cross State Governor, Ben Ayade, lost the state’s Northern Senatorial District ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to a little known Adams Cecilia on Saturday.
The primary which was held at the senatorial headquarters in Ogoja Local Government Area of the state, saw Cecilia scoring 140 votes to beat Ayade who got 52.
Another aspirant and Ayade’s political ally, Orim Ojie, scored 61 votes, consigning Ayade to third position.
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Ayade who obtained both the senatorial and presidential forms of the APC for a combined fee of N120,000 will now battle a number of highly rated aspirants for the party’s presidential ticket.
Cecilia, who’s a lawyer, has never held political office according to reports by her supporters who hailed her victory.
But when contacted, the office of the special adviser to the governor on media and publicity, forwarded a statement to THE WHISTLER denying the governor’s participation in the senatorial primary.
The statement signed by Christian Ita noted that Ayade is “a presidential aspirant who will be taking part in the APC presidential convention now slated for June 6.”
The governor discredited the primary election, noting it “was a poorly scripted comedy skit shot by three persons sitting in a room.”
The statement added that, “The only valid and recognised senatorial primaries that took place in Ogoja and which was
won by the former Chief of Staff to the Governor, Hon Martin Orim and which does not have Ayade on the ballot, was monitored by the INEC and representatives from APC’s National
Secretariat.”