Christopher Stephen Obong Ekpenyong (; born 29 September 1954) is a Nigerian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and former Deputy governor of

Akwa Ibom State Akwa Ibom is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It borders Cross River State to the east, Rivers State and Abia State to the west and north-west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The state ...

. He was elected to the Nigerian Senate in 2019 to represent Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial district.

Education

In 1960, he attended St. Patrick's Primary School, Ikot Ukana before leaving for St. Michael's Primary School, Rumuomasi,

Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...

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 and obtained an

Ordinary National Diploma The BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Level 3 diploma is a Further Education qualification and vocational qualification taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The qualification is organised and awarded by Pearson within th ...

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 introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongside th ...

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

Kensington University Kensington University was an unaccredited distance education institution from 1976 to 2003 that was based at different times in Glendale, California and Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. In 1996, the California Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational E ...

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Hawaii, United States and obtained a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

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

Political career

Ekpenyong was the deputy governor in Governor Victor Attah'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 (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

, 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 who is currently serving as the 10th president of the Nigerian Senate since 2023. He was first elected as Senator representing Akwa Ibom North-West Senat ...

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, th ...

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

. He was declared the winner by the

Independent National Electoral Commission Independent National Electoral Commission may refer to: *Independent National Electoral Commission (Burundi) *Independent National Electoral Commission (Democratic Republic of the Congo) *Independent National Electoral Commission (Guinea) The Inde ...

(INEC) Electoral Officer Peter Ogban. On 9 November 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

Personal life

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

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekpenyong, Chris 1954 births Living people Akwa Ibom State politicians Senators of the 9th National Assembly (Nigeria) Kensington University alumni