Ekpenyong Asuquo

Asuquo Ekpenyong (born January 1, 1984) is a Nigerian politician and financial analyst. He is the former Cross River State Commissioner for Finance and currently serves as the Senator representing the Cross River South senatorial district, making him the youngest Senator in the Nigerian Senate.

Background and education: Asuquo Ekpenyong Jr was born into the family of Chief Dr. Asuquo Ekpenyong and Dr. Mrs. Iquo Ekpenyong. He attended King’s College Lagos for his secondary education and obtained a degree in Economics from the University of Reading 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 before moving to Cross River, where he served as a lecturer in the Banking and Finance Department of the University of Calabar for two years. He established Iquasu Ventures Limited, a haulage and logistics company, in 2010, and later took over as Managing Director of the CBN-licensed Chamley Bureau de Change Limited. He was appointed Executive Director for Finance at Pearland Energy and served as a member of the board of Ekondo Microfinance Bank Limited.

In December 2015, he was appointed Cross River State Commissioner for Finance by Governor Benedict Ayade at the age of 31, making him the youngest commissioner in Nigeria. He served as the longest-serving Commissioner for Finance in Cross River State. In 2018, he was appointed Commissioner for Transport and Marine Services following the resignation of Mr. Savior Nyong.

Asuquo resigned as Commissioner for Finance and entered the 2023 Cross River State gubernatorial election as a leading aspirant until Bassey Otu emerged as the APC consensus candidate. He won the APC senatorial primaries in May 2022 with 347 votes out of 351 accredited voters. He subsequently won the Federal Senatorial seat for Cross River South in the 10th Nigerian Senate in February 2023. He was named Chairman of the Senate Committee on NDDC in the 10th Senate on 8 August 2023.