The Cross River state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday, October 25, 2014 trimmed down the number of candidates vying for the office of governor ahead of the 2015 polls to five, from its initial fourteen.
The five aspirants are: Senator Ben Ayade; Ntufam Fidelis Ugboh, the executive secretary of the National Planning Commission; the immediate past secretary to the state government, Mike Aniah; Ochilegor Idagbo, who only recently served as the state’s commissioner for Works and the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Larry Odey.
The announcement of the five was made by the state chairman of the party, Ntufam John Okon at stakeholder meeting of the party, which had Governor Liyel Imoke, Deputy Governor Efiok Cobham, former Governor Donald Duke, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa and minister for culture and tourism, Chief Edem Duke.
One of the aspirants who didn’t make the cut, Tanko Ashang spoke on behalf of others like him, commending the governor and the party leadership for conducting a transparent and flawless process, adding that they remained loyal to the PDP family even though they were not shortlisted.
