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| Hon. John Ifere (Left) - Rt. Hon Bassey Eko Ewa (center) - Hon. Oden Ewa (right) |
As the 2027 general elections gradually take shape in Cross River State, the battle for the Cross River Central Senatorial District is already attracting attention, with three names standing out from different political backgrounds — Rt. Hon. Bassey Eko Ewa, Hon. John Ifere and Hon. Oden Ewa.
The three men are coming into the race with different political stories.
While John Ifere represents a younger and more grassroots-driven political force, and Oden Ewa is building his senatorial ambition from his experience in the executive arm of the state government, Bassey Eko Ewa comes into the contest with a much longer legislative history, having moved from the Cross River State House of Assembly to the Speakership and later spent years representing the people of Yakurr/Abi in the House of Representatives.
That history is already making experience one of the major issues that could shape the Central Senatorial contest.
𝗕𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘆 𝗘𝗸𝗼 𝗘𝘄𝗮: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝘂𝗷𝗮
For many people familiar with Cross River politics, Bassey Eko Ewa is not a new name.
Ewa, from Ekori, Yakurr Local Government Area, began his political journey in the Cross River State House of Assembly, where he represented Yakurr I State Constituency and rose to become Speaker of the Assembly. His own account of his political career describes the movement from the State Assembly to the House of Representatives as a progression through elective legislative offices.
He later moved to the National Assembly, representing the Yakurr/Abi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. Contemporary records confirm that he won the Yakurr/Abi seat in 2007 and was returned in 2011 and 2015, remaining in the House until 2019.
During his time in the Green Chamber, Ewa served as chairman of the House Committee on Gas Resources between 2011 and 2015 and was involved in legislative proceedings on issues ranging from petroleum resources to policing and other national matters. The National Assembly itself recorded him sponsoring a bill seeking amendments to the Police Act in 2018.
This makes his political history different from that of the other two contenders.
Bassey Eko Ewa has operated at both levels of the legislature; state and federal, and has occupied a leadership position as Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly.
He also understands the politics of the Central Senatorial District from the constituency level. His federal constituency, Yakurr/Abi, is one of the six local government areas that make up Cross River Central, alongside Obubra, Ikom, Etung and Boki.
His 2023 attempt to move from the House of Representatives to the Senate also showed that he was not a stranger to the senatorial contest. Running on the PDP platform at the time, Ewa polled 53,453 votes but lost to the APC candidate, Eteng Jonah Williams, who scored 57,344 votes.
By 2026, however, his political direction had shifted with his emergence under the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) as the opposition challenger in the Central senatorial contest. A July 2026 political assessment of the race identified Rt. Hon Bassey Eko Ewa and incumbent Eteng Jonah Williams as the major veteran figures in the emerging contest, describing Ewa as a former Speaker with 12 years of experience in the National Assembly.
Whatever political party he is flying at the end of the process, the major selling point of Ewa's candidacy is difficult to miss: he has already spent years inside legislative chambers, first in Calabar and later in Abuja.
𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗜𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿
John Ifere comes into the race from a different political background.
Before becoming a senatorial candidate, Ifere was already known in Cross River politics as a grassroots politician who contested the Yakurr/Abi Federal Constituency seat in the 2023 House of Representatives election.
Running under the Labour Party, Ifere polled 10,845 votes, finishing behind APC's Alex Egbona, who won with 20,482 votes, and PDP's Eko Atu, who scored 13,471 votes.
Although he did not win the federal constituency seat, the 10,845 votes gave Ifere a significant electoral base from which he has continued to build his political profile.
His journey is therefore more recent than Eko Ewa's. Unlike Ewa, Ifere has not previously served as a member of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Speaker of the Assembly or member of the National Assembly.
But his political importance has grown since the 2023 election.
For 2027, Ifere has emerged as the PDP candidate for Cross River Central Senatorial District. His name was listed among the party's National Assembly candidates on the INEC portal, according to reports published in July 2026.
His candidacy therefore represents a different kind of political argument; one built around grassroots mobilisation, a growing personal political structure and the attempt to convert the support he gathered during his House of Representatives campaign into a wider senatorial movement.
For Ifere, the question will be whether the political energy that produced 10,845 votes in the 2023 Yakurr/Abi contest can be expanded across all six local government areas of the Central Senatorial District.
𝗢𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝘄𝗮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲
Oden Ewa is also entering the race from a different direction.
He served as Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs under Governor Bassey Otu and became one of the prominent political figures associated with the administration.
Unlike Bassey Eko Ewa and John Ifere, Oden Ewa has not previously won an election to either the Cross River State House of Assembly or the National Assembly.
His major government position so far has been his appointment as commissioner, giving him experience within the executive arm of government rather than the legislature. Reports from the period of his senatorial ambition described him as a grassroots mobiliser with support among APC leaders, members and youth groups across the district.
His route to the 2027 election was itself politically interesting.
Oden Ewa initially faced uncertainty during the APC screening process. Reports on May 18, 2026 gave conflicting accounts of his clearance, with some reports saying he had been disqualified by the national screening committee while other reports later confirmed that he had been cleared to participate in the primary.
He eventually contested the APC primary and defeated Mary Ekpere and the incumbent Senator Eteng Jonah Williams.
The result was overwhelming.
Oden Ewa scored 32,426 votes, while Mary Ekpere scored 991 and Eteng Jonah Williams scored 726. He therefore secured the APC ticket for Cross River Central ahead of the 2027 general election.
The primary was particularly significant because Eteng Williams was seeking another term in the Senate. Before the primary, the contest between the incumbent senator and the former commissioner had been described as one of the major battles within the Cross River APC.
Oden Ewa now faces a much bigger test outside the party primary — convincing voters across the entire Central Senatorial District that his experience in government as a commissioner can translate into effective representation in the Senate.
𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗕𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
The Central Senatorial race is therefore shaping up around three different political backgrounds.
John Ifere is coming with the experience of a 2023 federal constituency contest and a growing grassroots profile.
Oden Ewa is coming from the executive arm of government, having served as commissioner under the present administration, and has now secured the APC ticket after a strong primary performance.
Bassey Eko Ewa, however, brings a political résumé that is deeply rooted in legislative politics.
He has served in the Cross River State House of Assembly, risen to the position of Speaker, moved to the House of Representatives and represented Yakurr/Abi for three terms between 2007 and 2019. He has also previously contested the Central senatorial seat and later occupied a senior position within the PDP structure in Cross River.
That makes the experience question particularly interesting.
The Senate is another legislative chamber, and Eko Ewa's political career has largely been built inside legislative institutions. He has already worked with lawmakers, committees, legislative procedures and oversight responsibilities at both state and federal levels.
For his supporters, this is the argument: the Central Senatorial District is not simply looking for someone who wants to become a senator; it is looking for someone who already understands what happens inside the legislature and knows how to navigate the political system.
That argument gives Eko Ewa a clear advantage on legislative experience.
John Ifere will be banking on grassroots support and the political structure he has built since 2023.
Oden Ewa will be relying on his executive experience, his relationship with the ruling APC structure and the momentum from his overwhelming primary victory.
Eko Ewa, meanwhile, will be asking voters to look at a political career that has already passed through the State Assembly, the Speakership and the House of Representatives before arriving again at the Senate race.
For Cross River Central, the 2027 contest is therefore more than another election.
It is a choice between legislative experience, emerging grassroots politics and executive experience.
And as the campaign gathers momentum, one question will continue to dominate political conversations across Abi, Yakurr, Obubra, Ikom, Etung and Boki:
When it comes to experience, who is really bringing the most to the table?
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