Asuquo Ekpenyong (born 25 August 1985) is a Nigerian politician and financial analyst. He is the former

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

Commissioner for Finance and is currently the senator representing Cross River south senatorial district and the youngest Senator in the

Nigerian Senate The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's legislature and has the power to make laws, as summarized in chapter one, sectio ...

Background and education

Asuquo Ekpenyong Jr was born into the family of Chief Dr. Asuquo Ekpenyong and Dr. Mrs. Iquo Ekpenyong. He did his secondary education at Corona College, Lagos and further obtained a degree in Economics from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

in 2007 and a master's degree in International Banking and Financial Services in 2008.

Career

Asuquo Ekpenyong worked as a financial analyst in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and then moved to Cross River where he worked for two years as a lecturer in the Banking and Finance Department of the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a federal university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second-generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. ...

. He established Iquasu Ventures Limited, a haulage and logistics company, in 2010 and later took over as Managing Director of the

Central Bank of Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959. The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are t ...

(CBN) licensed Chamley Bureau de Change Limited. Asuquo was later appointed Executive Director for Finance at Pearland Energy, an indigenous Oil and Gas company, and a member of the board of directors at Ekondo Microfinance Bank Limited. In December 2015 Asuquo was appointed Cross River State Commissioner for finance by Governor

Benedict Ayade Benedict Bengiuoshuye Ayade (; born 2 March 1968) is a Nigerian politician who served as the governor of Cross River State from 2015 to 2023. He served as Senator for Cross River North from 2011 to 2015. Early life He was born in Obudu LGA ...

at the age of 29, making him the youngest commissioner in Nigeria. He is the longest serving commissioner for Finance in Cross River State. In 2018 Asuquo was appointed commissioner for transport and marine services following the resignation of Mr. Savior Nyong to contest the 2019 elections. Asuquo resigned as Commissioner for finance and Joined the race for governorship of Cross River State in the 2023 Cross River State gubernatorial election and was a leading aspirant until the emergence of Senator

Bassey Otu Bassey Edet Otu (born 18 October 1959) popularly known as ''Sweet Prince'' is a Nigerian politician and the current governor of Cross River State Southern Nigeria. who served as a onetime senator for Cross River South from 2011 to 2015, and ...

as the consensus candidate of the All progressive congress (APC) in the state. In May 2022, Asuquo Ekpenyong emerged winner of the

All Progressives 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, t ...

(APC) senatorial primaries with 347 votes out of 351 accredited voters. He is currently running for Senator representing Cross River South Senatorial District. He was named the chairman, Senate committee on NDDC of the 10th senate on 8th August, 2023.

Personal life

Asuquo Ekpenyong married Netanela Duke Ekpenyong, the second daughter of ex-governor

Donald Duke Donald Duke (born 30 September 1961 in Calabar) is a Nigerian politician. He was the Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007 and the 2019 Nigeria Presidential candidate for Social Democratic Party, SDP. Personal ...

in 2018, and they have two children together.{{Cite web , date=2022-06-04 , title=When Asuquo Ekpenyong hosted son's christening party , url=https://www.sunnewsonline.com/when-asuquo-ekpenyong-hosted-sons-christening-party/ , access-date=2022-06-17 , website=The Sun Nigeria , language=en-US

References

All Progressives Congress politicians People from Cross River State 1984 births Living people Alumni of the University of Reading