Alleged Anti-party: Cross River APC Boils As Faction Pushes For Chairman’s Resignation

By Stanley Ekpenyong (South South Bureau Chief)

All is not well in Cross River state chapter of the All Progressives Congress as a faction of the party is calling for the resignation of the state chairman, Barrister Alphonsus Eba.

Spearheading the crusade for Eba’s ouster is the Special Adviser to Governor Ben Ayade on Payroll, High Chief Henry Onwe.

Onwe insists Barrister Eba’s alleged anti- party activities were responsible for APC’s woeful performance in the February 25th,presidential election in the state as well as the defeat of Governor Ayade in the contest for Cross River North Senatorial seat.

While the Labour Party defeated APC in the presidential election in the state Ayade was stopped in his bid return to the Senate by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate and current Senator representing Cross River North in the Senate, Senator Agom Jarigbe Agom.

Though the APC won the gubernatorial election, two of the Senatorial seats, five out of the eight House of Reps seats and majority seats in the House of Assembly, disquiet has continued to brew in the party following Ayade’s loss and the defeat of Tinubu in the state by Peter Obi.

Addressing newsmen Friday in Calabar, leader of the faction, Chief Onwe accused  Barrister of Eba of betraying Ayade and Tinubu in Northern Cross where he hails from.

According to the group, “a close look at the results of his polling unit during the Presidential and National Assembly elections leaves no one in doubt that the governor and Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Presidential candidate of the party were betrayed by Mr Eba who  ridiculously scored low figures for them in the election”

Onwe cited results from Yala, Eba local government area to buttress his point.

In his words, “below are the abysmal results in Eba’s immediate catchment area which  shows woeful loss by the APC to the PDP and LP in the Presidential and Senatorial elections

For instance in the Presidential election at Igbeku Comprehensive Secondary School (013) APC got  115 votes while LP scored a whooping 178 votes. At Akreha Health Centre unit ( 015), APC  had 49 votes while LP scored  128 votes. It was same story at the third polling unit,  Playground Echemofana, Etiekpo  unit ( 005) APC had  91votes recorded for it while LP  polled 139.

“At unit 004, Igbeku  Comprehensive Secondary School,  APC had just 70 votes while LP  scored   83 votes. At Playground  Echiakpo, APC 111 votes while LP   got  134 votes.

In the House  of Representatives election, it was the same story of woeful performance recorded against the APC in the immediate polling units of the party’s Chairman:  Akreha Health Centre unit  (015),  APC  got 71 votes while PDP  went home with 109 votes and at  Playground Oloko Ipuole Street,  (008) PDP had  92  while APC 88 votes. At  Playground Echiakpu  (002), PDP had  138 votes APC 133 votes.

“In the Senate race contested by His Excellency, Senator Professor Ben Ayade, who has been so magnanimous to Mr Eba, the result in Echemofana was tear- inducing as the APC performed disastrously. Egat Igbeku  Comprehensive Secondary  School, (00)APC had  82 and PDP 88. At the same venue, ( 013) APC had 161, same PDP 161 Playground Echiakpo PDP pulled  138 while APC came behind with 134 votes

Also at Etiekpo Playground PDP had a whooping 182 and APC 119 votes. At Primary School Echemofana PDP scored  135 votes and APC could only manage  118 votes

“The same scenario played out at Playground Oloko  (008) where PDP had 98 votes and APC 91. At Akreha Health Centre (015) PDP had 109 while APC came far behind with 75 votes . At Ipuole Ekprinyi (016) PDP led with   68 votes while APC  63”

Onwe rued that “the performance of the APC was shameful and  falls far short of expectations considering the huge resources at the disposal of the State Chairman of APC”

He noted that “it was quiet unfortunate that the said Mr Eba is  now accusing people of anti-party activities. According to him, those  who did not win their polling units did anti-party and therefore would  not be given appointments as if it is his prerogative to give appointments to party faithfuls. After all, he lost several polling units too in his immediate ward”

The faction stressed that “Eba ought to have since resigned without any prompting  judging by the  overall results of the election in the Northern Senatorial District where the party he suprintends lost the Senate post, two House of Representatives seats, five State House of Assembly positions making it apparently the only district to suffer such humiliation, and where incidentally Mr Eba hails from”

Onwe opined that Eba will plunges the party into more misfortunes and shame in the coming local government elections if he fails to resign now.

Meanwhile, Barrister Eba has denied Onwe’s accusations, saying rather it was Onwe himself who indulged in anti-party activities for he and others are being investigated.

“The saying that the guilty are always afraid may not be unconnected with Henry Onwe’s predicament.

“Henry who like Judas Iscariot is laboring under the influence of betrayal and high dose of anti-party activities despite being recently entrusted with the State payroll by the Governor and was appointed by Alphonsus Ogar Eba  esq., APC State Chairman as Campaign Coordinator for Yala LGA threw caution to the wind and failed woefully in two polling units under his control in Nfuma / Ntrigom ward where he performed abysmally in Unit 006 left Aboum, APC 15 votes, PDP 134 votes and Unit 009 Elu, APC 06 votes, PDP 172 votes” Erasmus Ekpang, the state Publicity Secretary of the party said in a statement.