Victor Umeh loses bid for the senate as Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River State denies participating in primary
By Emma Ogbuehi
More upsets are being recorded in party primaries in many parts of the country, with former senator representing Anambra Central senatorial district, Victor Umeh, being the latest victim.
Earlier reports claiming that Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State lost in similar election have been debunked by the governor. The report had claimed that Ayade lost his bid to secure the All Progressives Congress, (APC) ticket to run for the Northern Senatorial District of the state.
It had indicated that Ayade polled 52 votes as against Adams Cecelia, who scored 140. Another aspirant Martin Orim scored 61 votes.
The Governor has however denied participating in any Senatorial Primary election.
In reaction, a statement signed by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Governor, Christian Ita, said Ayade did not take part in any senatorial primaries.
He stated: “The Cross River State Government has been drawn to a video circulating in cyberspace purporting to be a parallel All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primaries for Northern Cross River where His Excellency, Professor Ben Ayade was listed as a participant.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we hereby state clearly that Governor Ayade did not take part in any senatorial primaries.
“His Excellency is a presidential aspirant who will be taking part in the APC presidential convention now slated for June 6.
“We make bold to say that the so-called parallel primary election as contained in the said video was at best a poorly scripted skit comedy shot by three persons sitting in a room.
“The sham video is indeed a joke taken too far. It was a vapid, infantile but failed attempt at manipulation as the clowns behind it tragically forgot to also manufacture ballot boxes, delegates, observers and APC panel members.
“It was a handiwork of political desperadoes who are out to embarrass the governor.
“We wish to assure teeming APC members and supporters, particularly in Northern Cross River, that there was no parallel Senatorial primaries in the district.
“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.
“The purported video suggesting a parallel exercise should therefore be ignored.”
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Ayade dumped the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on which he was elected governor, in May 2021 to nurse his presidential ambition which he made known in April.
In All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Umeh, who had represented Anambra Central senatorial district, lost to a member of the House of Representatives Dozie Nwankwo.
Umeh, until recently, was the national chairman of APGA and an influential member of the party.
Nwankwo is currently the member representing Njikoka/Anaocha/Dunukofia Federal Constituency at the Federal House of Representatives.
Born in 1976, Nwankwo is an accountant, businessman and politician. He is an indigene of of Enugwu Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria.
The lawmaker earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Port Harcourt Rivers State. He also obtained an MSc in Business Administration (Leadership Option) from the University of the Liverpool UK.
His quest for professionalism and specialisation routed him to many trainings, conferences, and exhibitions around the world including value world conference in Amsterdam, value engineering exhibition in China, Buffaloes fire-fighting equipment exhibition in the USA, oil and gas exhibition in Germany, Chemical spill cleanup pump exhibition in Sweden.
In Ogun, Senator Solomon Adeola, AKA,Yayi representing Lagos West, polled 294 votes to defeat incumbent Senator Tolu Odebiyi, who scored zero in APC Ogun West Senatorial District Primary
