Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba on Sunday failed to secure his fourth term bid following his defeat at the Peoples Democratic Party primaries for the Cross River Central District by the member representing Obubra/Etung constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. John Owan-Enoh.Owan-Enoh polled 217 votes to defeat Ndoma-Egba and Ambassador Mark Egbe, who secured 37 and 20 votes respectively.
The atmosphere was tensed at the Ikom Local Government Area secretariat, where the election was held as security personnel almost outnumbered the electorate.
Dressed in white brocade attire, Ndoma-Egba left the scene of the exercise at 3.40pm after casting his vote but the election process dragged on to 5.45pm when the returning officer, Mr. Uko Enaku, pronounced Owan-Enoh the winner.
Reacting to his victory, Owan-Enoh said the outcome was an indication that the people of the district needed a change in their representation.
He said, “On this day, the people of the central senatorial district have voted for a change and I thank the PDP for not ignoring them. Whatever I have done before, I will do more.”Before the commencement of the exercise, Ndoma-Egba had raised the alarm that the processed leading to the conduct of the exercise was designed for him to loss.
He said, “The primary is clearly staked against me because it is a process. Today’s event is not an event on its own, it is a culmination of a process that has started with congresses at the wards. You recall the situation in Cross River State where the congresses that were held were favourable to me, but the powers that be thought that it should be cancelled.
“Secondly, the list that we are going to use today did not emerge from any congress in the field that I am aware of. So, I am facing an uphill task, but I am trusting that God’s hand will show at the end of the day.”
At the Cross River north senatorial district, the member representing Ogoja/Yala constituency in the House of Representatives, Dr. Rose Oko, defeated the incumbent Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Mr. Larry Odey, to clinch the PDP senatorial ticket for the zone.
As at the time of filing the report, accreditation was still ongoing at the Cultural Centre in Calabar where incumbent Senator Bassey Otu, is slogging it out with a former state chairman of the party, Mr. Ekpo Okon, and another aspirant, Mr. Gershom Bassey, for the Cross River South Senatorial ticket. Punch
