Hon. Essien Ayi, popularly known as Isantim has been defeated by the Deputy Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Joseph Bassey to win the seat for Akpabuyo/Bakassi/Calabar South Federal Constituency.
Hon. Ayi who has been occupying the seat since 2003, has been criticized over the years for underperformance.
Announcing the result of the election on Monday, the INEC Returning Officer said that Hon. Bassey of the All Progressives Congress, APC, scored a total of 23,885 votes to defeat the Labour Party candidate who garnered 16,448 votes while the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Hon. Ayi got 14, 448 votes to come third.
