NIGERIA, CALABAR – Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State, on Wednesday, locked the party’s secretariat in Calabar, demanding the immediate resignation of the state chairman, Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba.
The protesting members, numbering over a hundred, sang solidarity songs and displayed placards with inscriptions such as “Okadigbo Must Goooo”, “APC Cross River Deserve Fresh Air”, and “Our Chapter Chairmen and Secretaries Cannot be Crazy and Stupid.”
Their protest followed allegations by the forum of chapter chairmen and secretaries on Tuesday, accusing Barr. Eba of fund diversion, high-handedness, and mismanagement threatening the party’s unity ahead of the 2027 elections.
In a communiqué obtained by Paradise News, the forum alleged that Eba withheld stipends meant for party officials at the chapter and ward levels for three months and diverted statutory funds for personal use.
They also claimed lopsided allocation of party resources, stating that while the 36-member state executive received over ₦40 million, the 5,778 officers at the grassroots got only ₦9.2 million.
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The group further accused the chairman of coercing local government dues, failing to remit proceeds from the sale of nomination forms, and operating with what they described as “a high-handed leadership style.”
Reacting to the allegations, Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba dismissed them as baseless and politically motivated, insisting that some chapter officials mismanaged funds meant for lower party structures.
“I gave them a payment template, but they defaulted. Those stipends were embezzled by a few chapter officers,” he told Paradise News.
Eba explained that only 17 chapter chairmen were sanctioned for financial irregularities and denied claims of dictatorship within the party.
He added that the Governor’s office had been funding chapters directly and assured that future stipends would be paid straight to individual accounts to prevent diversion.