By Stanley Ekpenyong, South-South Bureau Chief
Before former Governor Ben Ayade defected from the People Democratic Party, PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC in May 2021 taking with him almost the state’s entire political structure, Cross River was a one-party state- PDP.
However, in the run-up to the 2023 elections, pundits had predicted the party would effortlessly reclaim the state, given that Cross River was traditionally a PDP state. But this never happened.
Rather, the APC consolidated by recording a massive victory including the governorship, two out of the three senatorial seats, five out of the seven House of Representatives seats and 20 out of 25 House of Assembly seats.
Leading the titanic battle that sunk PDP in the state was a young lawyer and Chairman of the state chapter of the APC, Barrister Alphonsus Oga Eba.
Surprisingly, however rather than showering him with effusive praises and accolades no sooner had Barrister Eba led the party to secure the massive victory than some rebellious elements within the party commenced the push for his ouster on the grounds of alleged misconduct.
Watchers of Cross River politics opine there is more to the plot to undo the Chairman than the allegations against him.
They wonder why a man who led a party to a convincing victory could have at the same time engaged in misconduct against the same party.
Similarly, not a few APC partisans in the state have queried the misconduct allegation against Eba, arguing that the party has not reported its Chairman misbehaved.
“It’s baffling that a man who led our party to victory is being targeted. Why accuse him of alleged misconduct when the party he leads and all organs of it have not said his activities are not in sync with his exalted office? This is witchhunt”, a chieftain of the party in the state said.
Multiple sources in the party told the magazine that the plot against Barrister Eba was championed by some party stalwarts from the Cross River North Senatorial District where he hails from.
The party chieftains, the magazine was further informed, feared that by the virtue of his position as party Chairman plus his astounding success in leading the party to victory, Barriater Eba’s political profile had burgeoned and could soon become a threat to their political relevance, not only in the Senatorial district but in the entire state.
Matters came to a head last month when the anti-Eba forces under the aegis of APC Stakeholders Forum announced the “removal” and “appointment” of one James Alichie Okpamu as his replacement on an acting basis.
In a swift move, however, Eba declared his traducers as incapable of removing him and despatched a letter to the National Chairman of the party, Ibrahim Ganduju pointing out that if the national leadership of the party accorded the faction recognition, Cross APC would descent into intractable anarchy.
Barrister Eba then rallied the Cross River APC behind him and got the leadership to pass a vote of confidence on him.
The “Stakeholders forum” further suffered a setback when Governor Bassey Otu denied them a buy-in.
Instead, aware of Eba’s efforts at cementing APC in the state, Governor Otu last week convened a party stakeholder meeting where he publicly expressed full confidence in Barriater Eba, chastised elements within the party plotting the chairman’s removal and ordered them to withdraw all cases to that effect in court.
Meanwhile, it is not yet clear what the next line of action of the Okpamu group who protested at the APC National Secretariat on Thursday is, sources however, claim they will in the coming days be pacified with appointments by Governor Otu.
