*The giant killer was not even present when voting concluded

Bassey-Otu

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

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

He polled 135 against Otu’s 99 votes while Mr Ekpo Okon, a former State Chairman of the party, got 76 votes.

The primary was rescheduled from Dec. 7, to Dec. 9, by Mr John Okon, PDP Chairman in the state, due to rowdiness and security concerns at the venue.

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

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

In his reaction, Sen. Otu said: “I will not comment on the outcome of the election. You will hear from me later.”

Also reacting to the outcome, Mr Ekpo Okon said that the contest was free and fair, adding that it was the beauty of democracy.

The winner of the primary was not at the venue at the time the results were announced.

Earlier, the Deputy Gov. of Cross River, Mr. Efiok Cobham, said that the congress of Dec. 7 was rescheduled to Dec. 9 due to some challenges.

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.