The demand for the resignation of the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Cross River State chapter, Barr. Alphonsus Eba has taken a new turn as party faithful on Wednesday blocked the state party secretariat to demand his resignation.
The protest connotes so much political meaning and could have been approved by higher authorities in the state.
It would be recalled that on Friday, November 7, the chapter Chairmen and secretaries of the party issued a communique demanding his resignation.
Their allegations, among other things, included a there months salary debt owed them, “an attempt to coerce the Local Government dues meant for the running of the Chapter offices and Instigating Chapter and Ward Party Officials against the Chapter leadership, thus generating hatred, contempt, ridicule and disrepute on the Party leadership at the respective Local Government Chapters of our Party, contrary to section 21:2(ii & v) of the APC Constitution as amended 26 March, 2022.”
Other allegations levelled against the state chairman included “lopsided allocation of statutory Party funds, leaving the Local Government Areas and Wards comprising of 5,778 Party Officials with N9,200,000 (Nine Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira Only), whereas the State Exco with just 36 members take over N40,000,000 (Forty Million Naira Only). This is a gross injustice”.
However, investigations by our correspondent reveal that the main reason why the chapter Chairmen demand the removal of the state chairman is”because of his decision to officially and ceremoniously welcome former governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, on Friday, November 7, to the state when wives of governors were having a retreat.”
Ayade arrived at the Margaret Ekpo airport on Friday, November 7 in into a tumultuous welcome organised by the APC leadership, led by Barr. Alphonsus Eba as chairman, while twenty-two first ladies in the country were having their retreat in the state.
A source who pleaded anonymity said, “Ben Ayade has been coming to the state, and many people have been seeing him. People have seen him at SPAR, and he has always been at his hotel, the Mega Hilton hotel at State Housing, whenever he was around.
“Why did the leadership of the party organise a formal welcome party for him when the governor hosted first ladies from across the country? Why was the state chairman of the party not at the event? Instead, he chose to go to the airport to welcome a former governor.”
The anonymous speaker added, “One thing was clear from that action. Because Jarigbe Àgom Jarigbe, the Senator representing the northern senatorial district, from which Ayade comes, defected to APC, that was why they organised that official welcome for the former governor.”
He recalled that Ayade had before now “contested against Jarigbe but lost even as a sitting governor and in APC while Jarigbe was still in PDP.”
Continuing, he questioned the rationale behind officially welcoming Ayade on Friday, November 7, “when the governor’s son got married on Thursday of that week, the Governors’ wives were around on Friday, and the governor’s son’s church wedding took place on Saturday, November 8, while he came to be officially received by APC on November 7. Is that politics?” he asked.
