By Our Reporter
Pressure is mounting on the All Progressives Congress (APC) Cross River State Chairman, Alphonsus Ogar Eba to resign following an alleged woeful outing of the party in his immediate zone of influence – the ward, local government and the northern senatorial district where he hails from.
An APC group, led by a prominent member of the party, High Chief Henry Onwe, who served as Coordinator of the Governorship Campaign in Yala Local Government Area, declared this position before newsmen on Tuesday in Calabar.
The group alleged that Mr Eba betrayed the Governor, HE Sen Benedict Ayade, who contested the senatorial position for the district, by shamefully losing many polling units in his area, losing several wards, local government and the senatorial district, insisting that such level of performance was unacceptable for a state Chairman of a ruling party like the APC.
The group added that it is more pained by the loss of the Senatorial election by Senator Professor Ben Ayade, who they said would have become the Senate President if he had won, a position the state and people of the northern district would have benefitted significantly from.
According to the group, a close look at the results of his polling unit during the Presidential and National Assembly elections leave no one in doubt that the governor and Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Presidential candidate of the party were betrayed.
They further presented the result of the said election as follows:
Presidential election at Igbeku Comprehensive Secondary School (013) APC 115 votes while LP scored a whooping 178 votes; Akreha Health Centre unit ( 015), APC 49 votes while LP scored 128 votes.
According to the group, it was same story at the third polling unit, Playground Echemofana, Etiekpo unit ( 005) APC 91, LP polled 139. Unit 004, Igbeku Comprehensive Secondary School, APC 70 votes while LP scored 83 votes. At Playground Echiakpo, APC 111 votes while LP got 134 votes.
The group further explained that in the House of Representatives election, it was the same story of woeful performance recorded against the APC in the immediate polling units of the party’s Chairman: Akreha Health Centre unit (015) in which the APC got 71 votes while PDP went home with 109 votes, and at Playground Oloko Ipuole Street, (008) PDP had 92 while APC 88 votes. At Playground Echiakpu (002), PDP had 138 votes APC 133 votes.
“In the Senate race contested by His Excellency, Senator Professor Ben Ayade, who has been so magnanimous to Mr Eba, the result in Echemofana was tear- inducing as the APC performed disastrously. Eg
at Igbeku Comprehensive Secondary School, (00)APC had 82 and PDP 88. At the same venue, ( 013) APC had 161, same PDP 161 Playground Echiakpo PDP pulled 138 while APC came behind with 134 votes
“Also at Etiekpo Playground PDP had a whooping 182 and APC 119 votes. At Primary School Echemofana PDP scored 135 votes and APC could only manage 118 votes
“The same scenario played out at Playground Oloko (008) where PDP had 98 votes and APC 91. At Akreha Health Centre (015) PDP had 109 while APC came far behind with 75 votes . At Ipuole Ekprinyi (016) PDP led with 68 votes while APC 63,” it submitted.
The group described the performance of the APC as shameful and that it fell far short of expectations considering the huge resources at the leadership’s disposal.
“It is quiet unfortunate that the party chairman is now accusing people of anti-party activities. According to him, those who did not win their polling units did anti-party and therefore would not be given appointments as if it is his prerogative to give appointments to party faithfuls. After all, he lost several polling units too in his immediate ward,” it argued.
According to the group leaders, Mr Eba ought to have since resigned without any prompting judging by the overall results of the election in the Northern Senatorial District where the party he suprintends lost the Senate post, two House of Representatives seats, five State House of Assembly positions making it apparently the only district to suffer such humiliation.
“If you look at the results from Yache ward where Dr Stephen Odey comes from and Echimofana ward where the State Chairman hails from, you will see a significant difference because Odey swept the polls in both the Presidential and Senate ballots while Eba couldn’t. The big question now is, what gives him the onus to continue to remain as State Chairman of our great party?
“We call on Mr Eba to resign before he plunges our great party into more misfortunes and shame in the local government elections. We therefore urge well meaning leaders of the party to join the group in urging Mr Eba to resign immediately,” it stated.
High Chief Onwe urged party members to focus more on building the party and reconciling aggrieved members rather than creating enemies within the party.
