Little-known politician beats Bassey Otu in PDP senatorial primaries

A new entrant to the Senate race on PDP platform, Gershom Bassey, on Tuesday defeated incumbent senator, Bassey Otu, to pick the party’s ticket for Cross River South Senatorial District.

Mr. Bassey, who is Chairman, Cross River Water Board, defeated Mr. Otu at the rescheduled senate primary in the district.

He polled 135 against Otu’s 99 votes while Ekpo Okon, a former State Chairman of the party, got 76 votes.
The primary was rescheduled from December 7 to 9, by John Okon, PDP Chairman in the state, due to rowdiness and security concerns at the venue.

Announcing the result in Calabar, Alimi Abdulrazaq, Chairman of the electoral panel, described the process as peaceful and transparent.

“Following the announcement of this result, I hereby declare Gershom Bassey duly elected for Cross River Southern Senatorial District election in 2015,” he said.

In his reaction, Mr. Otu said: “I will not comment on the outcome of the election. You will hear from me later.”
Also reacting to the outcome, Mr. Okon said the contest was free and fair, adding that it was the beauty of democracy.

NAN reports that the winner of the primary was not at the venue at the time the results were announced.
Earlier, the Deputy Governor of Cross River, Efiok Cobham, said the congress of December 7 was rescheduled to Dec. 9 due to some challenges.

Mr. Cobham urged the delegates to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner during and after voting.
The election was conducted under tight security as men of the civil defence corps and the Nigeria Police provided security during the election.

(NAN)