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 A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for Cross River North from 2011 to 2015.

Early life

He was born in Obudu LGA of Cross River State on 2 March 1968 to Peter Akinsheye Ayade and Beatrice Ngayi Ayade. He hails from Kakum Village, Ipong Ward of Obudu Local Government Area of

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 ...

, Nigeria. His parents were both devout

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. His father worked as a public servant with the water board.

Education

Benedict Ayade received his primary education at St. Stephens Primary School, Obudu, and proceeded to Government Secondary School, Obudu, Nigeria, for his secondary education. Ayade earned his B.Sc. (Honours) from the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

, Nigeria (1984–1988). He then proceeded to obtain his M.Sc. in microbiology (1989–1990) and subsequently his Ph.D. in environmental microbiology from the same University of Ibadan (1990–1994), winning the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award in Environmental Microbiology. Ayade also has an MBA (2000–2002) from

Ambrose Alli University Ambrose Alli University (AAU) is a state-owned university in Edo State, Nigeria. It was established in 1981 by the governor of Bendel State (now Edo and Delta States), Ambrose Folorunsho Alli. Initially known as Bendel State University, subs ...

Ekpoma, Edo State. Ayade is a lawyer with an LL.B. law degree (2006–2010) from

Delta State University, Abraka The Delta State University, Abraka - popularly known as DELSU - is a State government-owned university in Nigeria with the main campus located at Abraka, Delta State and its sub-campus at Oleh. The Oleh campus was established with the 1995 Am ...

. Ayade went on to work as a lecturer at

, where he was subsequently appointed

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

. From his work in

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

remediation in Nigeria, Ayade invented a

sewage treatment plant Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

Appointments/political career

*Chairman of Ecological Fund *Chairman of International Institute of Environmental Research *Member of Strategic Policy Advisory Council *Member of Nigeria Association of Petroleum Engineers *Member of Cross River State Poverty Alleviation Board Ayade ventured into politics when he ran for a seat 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 ...

in the 2011 elections as a member of the PDP. Ayade was elected by accumulating a total of 91,123 votes. During his term in the Senate, Ayade held the position of vice-chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

. He was also a member of other committees such as Petroleum Downstream,

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, Drugs/Narcotics/Crime etc. Ayade won the

gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

poll again on the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 2015 elections in Cross River State, having polled 342,016 votes ahead 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 ...

candidate in the state, Odey Ochicha, with 53,983 votes. Ayade recontested in the 2019 gubernatorial elections as a member of the People Democratic Party (PDP) and was reelected as the governor of Cross River State.

Awards

Ayade was awarded the 2016 Vanguard Governor of the Year. Ayade was awarded the 2019 Champion Newspaper Governor of the Year. Ayade was awarded the 2020 Leadership newspaper Governor of the year. Ayade was also awarded the Blueprint Newspaper Governor of the Year on Agro-industrialization 2021. The award was in recognition of his developmental strides on Agro-industrialization. On 24 August 2019, Ayade was invested as the Knight of St. John (KSJ) International by the Roman Catholic Church, Sacred Heart Cathedral, the seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Calabar. In October 2022, he was awarded a national honour of Commander of the

Order of the Niger The Order of the Niger (OON) is the second highest Award, national award in Nigeria. It was instituted in 1963 and is junior to the Order of the Federal Republic, the highest order of merit in the country. Award The two highest honours, the Gr ...

(CON) by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

Family and personal life

Ayade is married to Dr. Linda Ayade and has 3 children. His hobbies include reading, playing and watching games, as well as dancing.

References