Cross River State Assembly Speaker wins APC Senatorial re-run primaries

By Sixtus Uket (Calabar)

The Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Eteng Jonah Williams has emerged winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Central Senatorial District re-run primaries.

The re-run Central Senatorial District primaries of the party held in Ikom, the headquarters of Ikom Local Government Area on Saturday, December 17, 2022 in line with an Abuja Federal High court judgement nullifying the primaries conducted in May, 2022.

Announcing the result, the Chief Returning Officer, Abdullahi Yuguda and Secretary, Dominic Okechukwu, said Rt. Hon. Eteng Jonah Williams scored a total of 270 votes to defeat three other opponents.

They explained that, out of a total number of 330 voters, 308 voters were accredited.

According to them, while the total votes cast stood at 308, the valid votes at the end of the exercise were 305, while 3 votes were invalid.

A break down of the result showed that the current Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development, Prof. John Inyang came second with 27, while the former Director General, Women Development Commission, Mrs. Mary Ekpere scored 7 votes and the current Chairman of the Board of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Obol Akin Anderson Ricketts sored one vote.

Our correspondent however gathered that, Obol Akin Ricketts had written to inform the party of his withdrawal from the re-run primaries “after consulting with his family, friends and supporters.”

A statement signed by Akin Ricketts Media Team noted that “The former Cross River State Commissioner for Information, His Highness, Obol Akin Ricketts, has withdrawn from Cross River Central Senatorial APC re-run primaries scheduled for today 17th, December 2022.”

The statement entitled: “Chief Akin Ricketts withdraws from Cross River APC Senate re-run,” added that “Ricketts disclosed this in a statement after a closed-door meeting with his family, political associates, delegates and teeming supporters in his country home Ugep on Friday.”

“He thanked his supporters and Cross Riverians for their unflinching support towards his run in the earlier primaries. He also pledged his loyalty to our great party: the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leader, Governor of Cross River State, His Excellency Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade.

“Chief Ricketts enjoined all his supports and delegates in the rescheduled primaries to ensure a peaceful atmosphere at the venue and vote the candidature of Rt. Hon. Eteng Jones Williams so as to ensure victory for APC in the forthcoming elections,” the statement added.

It would be recalled that a Federal High Court in Abuja had nullified the election of the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Eteng Jonah Williams, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the Cross River Central Senatorial District and ordered a rerun primary election within the next fourteen days.