The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Cross River State chapter, Mr Alphonsus Eba, has been impeached by members of the State Executive Committee (SEC) of the party.
The dramatic leadership shake-up followed months of internal turmoil, allegations of financial misconduct, high-handedness, transactional approach in party administration, prolonged closure of the party secretariat, and failure to pay statutory stipends.
Mr Eba was removed from office after an emergency meeting of the State Executive Committee, which was held at the State Secretariat in Calabar, with 30 out of the 32 members of SEC voting against his continued stay as the Chairman of the APC in the State.
The Chapter Chairman of the APC in Boki, Chief Kelvin Njong, who spoke on behalf of all 18 chapter chairmen, said the impeachment resulted from thorough consultations and documented complaints submitted to the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.
“The party was sick, and the virus was identified. By God’s grace, today we have removed that virus.
“The party has suffered misappropriation, tension, and the total shutdown of the secretariat for three months. He was not impeached for the sake of impeachment,” Njong stressed.
The motion for the appointment of an acting chairman was raised by the State Welfare Secretary of the party, Mr Okara Ekawu, and seconded by the State treasurer, Dr Mathew Egom.
Mr Ekawu premised his motion on article 17 subsection 6 of the party’s constitution and further noted that the appointment be made pending the ratification of the National Working Committee (NWC).
The Committee immediately empowered the Deputy Chairman, Ntufam Ekum Ekok Ojogu, to assume office as Acting Chairman pending ratification by the National Secretariat.
Meanwhile, after taking his oath of office, the new acting Chairman, Ntufam Ekum Ojogu, delivered an acceptance speech where he promised reconciliation, transparency, and accessibility.
Mr Ojogu, who promised to work for the unity of the party, appealed to all aggrieved members to close ranks and confine the event of the past few weeks to “dustbin of history.”
According to him, “I will fight for the party’s stability and so, I appeal to us all to set aside any differences and misunderstanding that may have arisen during the crisis and let’s work in the interests of the APC.
“I will operate an open door policy, carry everyone along, and l want us to know that the APC remains committed to delivering dividends of democracy to our people,” he stated.
He declared: “All grievances must be set aside so we can rebuild. All entitlements owed will be addressed. My doors and phone lines are open 24/7. It is time to sheath our swords.”
Mr Ojogu hailed ward executives, polling unit coordinators, and volunteers, acknowledging their role in sustaining the party at the grassroots during the crisis.
He pledged to work closely with Governor Otu in advancing the “People First” agenda and restoring stability to the State chapter.
“As one indivisible APC family, we shall overcome these challenges together,” he said.
Following the ceremony, the chapter chairmen and State Executive Committee members entered a closed-door meeting to outline next steps for party restructuring and to finalise modalities for a formal communication to the National Secretariat.
The impeachment marks one of the most significant internal upsets within the Cross River APC in recent years, signalling a renewed push by party stakeholders to enforce discipline, restore order, and reposition the party ahead of future political contests.
It would be recalled that the crisis started when the forum of local government chairmen and secretaries of the party had demanded Mr Eba’s resignation.
The forum led by Chief Kelvin Njong, accused the impeached chairman of instigating chapter and ward party officials against the chapter leadership.
He was also accused of refusal to remit the percentage meant for the local government areas and wards from the sales of forms during the 2023 general elections.
According to a communique by the forum, “While the local government areas and wards comprising 5,778 Party officials were given N9.2 million, the state executive with just 36 members took N40 million.
“This is gross injustice and typical of the chairman. We also have other sundry remittances from the National Secretariat that are unaccounted for,” the communique noted.
However, the impeached chairman had earlier dismissed allegations of high-handedness and financial mismanagement levelled against him by the chapter chairmen.
Mr Eba described the accusations as laughable, insisting that the chapter chairmen were “running away from their shadows” after allegedly embezzling ₦60 million meant for ward and chapter executives.
The Governor, Prince Bassey Otu had waded into the crisis, appealing to the forum for calm as he investigated the allegations.
