By Frank Ulom
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – The Forum of All Progressives Congress (APC) Chapter Chairmen and Secretaries in Cross River State has passed a vote of no confidence on the State Chairman of the party, Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba, accusing him of anti-progressive conduct, financial mismanagement, and divisive leadership.
In a communiqué issued at the end of a crucial meeting held on 7th November 2025, and signed by 35 party leaders comprising 18 Chapter Chairmen and 17 Secretaries, the forum alleged that Eba’s leadership style had caused widespread disunity, distrust, and hardship within the party structure across the state.
Briefing newsmen on the communiqué on Tuesday, 11th November 2025, in Calabar, High Chief Engr. Kelvin Njong, Chairman of the Forum and Chapter Chairman of Boki, cited six major grievances, including the alleged non-payment of party stipends to Chapter and Ward officials for three months, coercion of local government dues, incitement of party members against local leaders, lopsided allocation of funds, and refusal to remit statutory percentages from the sales of nomination and delegate forms during the 2023 general elections.
According to the communiqué, the chapter leaders claimed that “in the history of the party’s administration in the state, no state party chairman has ever withheld stipends meant for party officials at the chapter and ward levels for whatever reason.”
The forum further decried the alleged unfair distribution of statutory party funds, stating that while the State Executive Committee, comprising 36 members, received over ₦40 million, the 5,778 officials at the local government and ward levels were allocated just ₦9.2 million. The forum described this as “gross injustice.”
They also accused Eba of exhibiting a “high-handed, insolent, and transactional approach to party administration,” which they said was inconsistent with the progressive values of the APC.
The forum made five key demands, including the immediate payment of all outstanding stipends to Chapter Chairmen, a review of the party’s fund-sharing formula, and remittance of outstanding percentages from the sales of nomination and delegate forms.
They also urged the APC leadership to mandate that future stipends be deducted at source and paid directly to Chapter Chairmen to ensure transparency and accountability.
Most notably, the forum called on the party’s leadership to compel Barr. Eba to “resign honourably” as State Chairman, citing loss of confidence in his leadership and describing his actions as “destabilising, destructive, and anti-progressive.”
Despite their grievances, the forum reaffirmed its loyalty to the leader of the party in the state, Governor Bassey Otu, pledging full support for his administration and re-election in 2027.
“We hereby pledge to work assiduously towards His Excellency, Apostle Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu’s re-election as Governor in 2027, to sustain his uncommon and unequalled transformation of our infrastructural landscape and human capital development, which has engendered the Season of Sweetness that has pervaded our dear state like a tsunami,” Njong stated.
The communiqué was copied to the National Leadership of the party, Governor Otu and his Chief of Staff, Chief Emmanuel Ironbar.
Responding to the development, Eba downplayed the Forum, saying his move was to make the party stronger. “You know when you’re trying to make sure things work very well, people resort to name-calling. All we try to do is to strengthen the party.
“Three months ago in a meeting, I was shocked to hear that the monies I normally pay them directly, they don’t remit to their ward chapters accurately,” Eba said in a telephone conversation on Tuesday.
He accused members of the forum of not following payment templates designed by him, stressing “…only for me to discover that each of those people has been embezzling the small stipend that is supposed to go to their own colleagues at the chapter and ward levels.”
According to him, “To make matters worse, the dues that were supposed to go to the LGAs, they keep the money to themselves without even sharing with their colleagues.”
He said they wanted to earn more than the state executives. “How can you, as a Chapter Chairman, lower in rank than the state Excos, be earning more money than the state Exco members?”
The state party chairman said he called a joint meeting and what he got was mind-bugging. “Several millions of naira that these people have not remitted in the last four years – unknown to me.
“I said let me have the account details of every Exco member, from the ward level to the chapter level, and pay them directly. In the last three months, that is what I was paying. Their three months’ salaries, we kept them. 17 chapter chairmen were the ones who defaulted in that,” Eba stated.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW OF THE BRIEFING BELOW
