Ayade Benedict Bengioushuye

Benedict Bengiuoshuye Ayade was born on March 2, 1968 in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. His parents, Peter Akinsheye Ayade and Beatrice Ngayi Ayade, were devout Catholics, and his father worked in the public sector with the water board.

He attended St. Stephens Primary School in Obudu before proceeding to Government Secondary School, Obudu. Ayade later earned a B.Sc. (Honours) in microbiology from the University of Ibadan (1984–1988), followed by an M.Sc. in environmental microbiology (1989–1990) and a Ph.D. in environmental microbiology (1990–1994), winning the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award.

After academia, he obtained an MBA from Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma (2000–2002) and an LL.B. from Delta State University Abraka (2006–2010). He later pursued an additional LL.B. in Law from the University of Calabar, where he worked as a lecturer and was later appointed professor at Delta State University.

Ayade is known for his contributions to groundwater remediation and invented a solar-powered sewage treatment plant. He has held roles such as Chairman of the Ecological Fund, International Institute of Environmental Research, and Strategic Policy Advisory Council.

Entering politics, he ran for the Nigerian Senate in 2011 as a PDP candidate, winning 91,123 votes. During his Senate term (2011–2015), he served as vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology and was a member of committees on Petroleum Downstream, Education, and Drugs/Narcotics/Crime.

He later became governor of Cross River State, first elected in 2015 with 342,016 votes, and was re-elected in 2019 with 381,484 votes. His tenure included awards such as Vanguard Governor of the Year (2016), Champion Newspaper Governor of the Year (2019), and Leadership Governor of the Year (2020).

In 2023, he contested the Cross River North Senate seat as an APC candidate but lost to Sen. Jarigbe Agom. He was invested as a Knight of St. John (KSJ) in 2019 and awarded the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2022. Married with three children, his hobbies include reading, sports, and dancing.