APC NWC blocks an alleged unlawful attempt to remove Cross River chairman Alphonsus Eba as the party battles a deepening internal crisis
The All Progressives Congress National Working Committee, NWC, on Friday halted an escalating internal crisis after declaring the purported removal of Cross River State chairman Alphonsus Ogar Eba by the State Executive Committee unconstitutional.
Also read: Ogunbiyi Emerges as APC’s Unifying Figure for Osun 2026
The decision followed a letter issued by APC National Legal Adviser Murtala Aliyu Kankia on 4 December, summoning Alphonsus Eba to appear before the national leadership on Monday, 8 December, to address a vote of no confidence passed by members of the State Executive Committee.
Kankia said the meeting would allow the NWC to hear directly from him and ensure due process.
The summons came amid deepening factional tension in Cross River State after some SEC members claimed that “The System” no longer wanted Eba in office and announced his removal. Eba dismissed their declaration as illegal and described it as a joke taken too far.
The conflict is the latest chapter in a series of disputes involving the embattled chairman. Last month, the Forum of Chapter Chairmen and Secretaries demanded his resignation, accusing him of high-handedness, diversion of party funds and failure to remit stipends to ward and chapter officers.
Eba countered with strong allegations of his own, claiming that the same officials were involved in financial misconduct amounting to more than N60m.
Eba insisted that the party introduced a direct payment system to prevent diversion of funds and ensure stipends reached all 5,778 ward and chapter officials across the state.
He accused some chapter chairmen of receiving monthly payments from political appointees and withholding funds released for local party administration.
He maintained that chapter chairmen lacked the constitutional authority to demand the resignation of a state chairman. According to him, disciplinary powers over his office rest exclusively with the South-South Zonal Executive Committee, as outlined in Article 21(3)(vi)(d) of the APC constitution.
The intervention of the NWC is widely viewed as an attempt to stabilise the party ahead of the 2027 general elections. Analysts say Eba’s growing prominence within the party’s national structure has made him a central figure in Cross River politics.
He serves on the APC constitution review committee, having been nominated by President Bola Tinubu at the February 2025 National Executive Committee meeting, and also holds the role of National Secretary of the Forum of State Chairmen.
Senior party figures, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio, are believed to see him as one of the APC’s most active rising politicians.
Also read: Rivers Speaker and 16 Lawmakers Defect from PDP to APC
Eba has repeatedly argued that the attempts to remove him are politically motivated.
