Calabar APC Crisis: Supporters Barricade Secretariat, Urge Party Chairman’s Removal

Members and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State have sealed off the party’s state secretariat, vowing to deny access to the state chairman, Barrister Alphonsus Eba.

The protesters, carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs, demanded Eba’s immediate resignation. They said their action was in line with a resolution by APC chapter chairmen and secretaries, who a day earlier had also called for Eba’s removal.

Allegations and Counterclaims

In a communiqué issued on Tuesday, the chapter chairmen and secretaries accused Eba of high-handedness, mismanagement of party funds, and divisive leadership.

Eba, however, dismissed the protest as “sponsored,” describing the accusations as an attempt to deflect attention from alleged financial impropriety by the chapter executives themselves.

“They are running away from their shadows,” Eba said. “They embezzled monies meant for ward and chapter executives — over ₦60 million in total — and they must give account for it.”

The state chairman explained that under his leadership, payments to the party’s 5,778 executives are made directly into their personal bank accounts to promote transparency and curb fund diversion.

“We have paid everyone up to date,” Eba maintained. “However, stipends for the 17 chapter chairmen are on hold until they clear themselves of fraud allegations.”

He further accused the chapter leaders of collecting over ₦4 million monthly from local government appointees’ dues and ₦3.6 million from other sources, which he claimed were mismanaged. “They created a disproportionate salary structure, paying themselves more than some state executive members, which is against our transparency policy,” he alleged.

Party Leaders React

Reacting to the escalating crisis, APC chieftain and former presidential aide, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla — who had previously called for Eba’s removal — described the development as “serious and unprecedented.”

“This is coming from chapter chairmen and secretaries who are the backbone of the party,” he said. “The allegations against Eba are grave. I believe he should resign while the ovation is still loudest.”

Obono-Obla lamented that the APC in Cross River had “lost focus and direction,” describing the party as “drifting, purposeless, and rudderless — behaving more like a reactionary group than a progressive one.”

“A political party is an aggregation of interests,” he added. “It requires strategic effort and political engineering to unite those interests into a cohesive front.”

Observers note that Chief Peter Higgins, another APC leader from Cross River North — Eba’s home zone — had also called for his removal last year. At the time, Governor Bassey Otu and other party elders intervened to ease tensions.

Eba, who also chairs the National Rubber Research Institute, is expected to complete his tenure as state APC chairman in a few months. But with calls for his resignation mounting, many believe the final chapter of his leadership may just be beginning.