Christopher Stephen Obong Ekpenyong (born 29 September 1954, in Ikot Ukana of Obot Akara local government area, Akwa Ibom) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

politician and former Deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State. He was elected to the Nigerian Senate in 2019 to represent Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District.

Personal life

On August 19, 2019, he lost his wife, Grace Ekpenyong.

Education

In 1960, he attended St. Patrick's Primary School, Ikot Ukana before leaving for St. Michael's Primary School, Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt where he got his First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC). In 1970, he attended Government Technical College, Port Harcourt and in 1975, he attended Federal Government Technical College, Yaba. In 1977, he attended

Federal Polytechnic, Bida Federal Polytechnic, Bida is a polytechnic school based in Niger State, in north central Nigeria. It opened in 1977. History Federal Polytechnic Bida was established 1977 following a decision of the Federal Government Nigeria to move the ins ...

and obtained an Ordinary National Diploma in Electrical /Electronic Engineering. In 1980, Ekpenyong attended The Polytechnic Calabar for a

Higher National Diploma Higher National Diploma (HND), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is an academic higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and various other countries. They were first introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongsi ...

in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and graduated in 1982. In 1993, he attended

Kensington University Kensington University was an unaccredited distance education institution that was based at different times in California and Hawaii. Kensington University was eventually shut down by state authorities in both states. History The school was found ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, Hawaii, United States and obtained a degree in

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

(Marketing) in 1995. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from the same institution.

Political career

Ekpenyong was the deputy governor in Governor

Victor Attah Obong Victor Bassey Attah (born 20 November 1938) was Governor of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), but has since joined the All Progress ...

's tenure from 1999 until 2005. In 2005, he made history in Nigeria: he was impeached as the deputy governor of Akwa Ibom state but was hurriedly returned to that position in less than seven days. The members of the state house of assembly reversed the impeachment after the intervention of then-President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

, although Ekpenyong was forced to resign afterwards. In 2019, he was elected as senator representing Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party beating his closest rival the incumbent,

Godswill Akpabio Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio, (born 9 December 1962), is a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He is the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs as he resigned on 11 May 2022 on the direction of President Muhammadu Buhari to contest at presidentia ...

of the

All Progressive Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

. He received 118,215 votes as against 83,158 for

. He was declared the winner by the

Independent National Electoral Commission The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria. History Regulation and administration of elections The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...

(INEC) Electoral Officer Peter Ogban. On November 9, 2019; the court of Appeal in Calabar, Cross Rivers State, ordered a re-run of the senatorial election in Essien Udim Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State. For the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District election, the PDP candidate, Chris Ekpenyong, scored 134,717 votes to beat the former senator, Godswill Akpabio, who had 83,820 votes, according to the result released Sunday morning by INEC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekpenyong, Chris 1954 births Living people Akwa Ibom State politicians Members of the Senate (Nigeria) Kensington University alumni