Cross River APC impeaches its chairman, swears in replacement

The State Executive Committee (SEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State has announced the impeachment of the party chairman, Alphonsus Eba.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SEC impeached the party chairman at its emergency meeting in Calabar on Thursday.

However, Mr Eba has dismissed his impeachment as a “joke”.

A source close to the meeting told NAN that 30 of the 32 SEC members voted against Mr Eba’s continued stay in office.

It was gathered that the decision to impeach him followed a similar vote of no confidence passed on him by the APC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and secretaries at the local government level in Cross River.

Mr Eba’s impeachment was further supported by a similar vote by the 196 ward chairmen of the APC in the state.

Following Mr Eba’s impeachment, the APC State Working Committee (SWC) met and appointed an acting chairman of the party.

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NAN gathered that the motion for the appointment of an acting chairman was moved by the State Welfare Secretary of the party, Okara Ekawu, and seconded by the state treasurer, Mathew Egom.

Mr Ekawu premised his motion on Article 17 Sub-section 6 of the party’s constitution.

Meanwhile, the acting chairman, Ekum Ojogu, has promised to unify the party and appealed to aggrieved members to close ranks and “confine past events to the dustbin of history”.

“I will fight for the party’s stability and so, I appeal to us all to set aside any differences and misunderstanding that may have arisen during the crisis and let’s work for the interests of the APC.

“I will operate an open door policy, carry everyone along, and do want us to know that the APC remained committed to delivering dividends of democracy to our people,” he told reporters.

Loyalty to Gov Otu

The acting chairman, Mr Ojogu, pledged his loyalty to Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River.

“I want to believe, and I know that the battle of the last few weeks will only make us stronger,” he said at the news conference.

NAN recalls that the state chapter of the APC was embroiled in crisis, with the chapter chairpersons alleging various misconducts against the impeached chairman.

The crisis began when the forum of local government chairpersons and party secretaries demanded Mr Eba’s resignation.

Led by Kelvin Njong, the forum based its demand on what it described as “high-handedness, insolence, underrating, and transactional approach” in party administration by Mr Eba.

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The forum further accused him of refusing to remit the percentage meant for the local government areas and wards from the sales of forms during the 2023 general elections.

However, when NAN contacted Mr Eba, he described his impeachment as “a joke taken too far”.

“I will speak at the appropriate time. I wouldn’t say more for now,” he told NAN.