2023 Elections: Ayade’s Aide Seeks Resignation Of Cross River APC Chairman

The Special Adviser to Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River on Payroll, Chief Henry Onwe, has called for the immediate resignation of the State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Barr. Alphonsus Eba, over his alleged poor performance in his zone, the Northern Senatorial District of the State, his ward and local government area in the just-concluded 2023 elections.

Chief Onwe, who served as Coordinator of the Governorship Campaign in Yala Local Government Area of the State, made the call in Calabar, the State capital during an interaction with journalists.

He alleged that Eba did not only betray the outgoing Governor Ayade, who contested the Cross River North senatorial seat by losing many polling units in his area, losing several wards, local government areas and the senatorial district, a development he said was unacceptable for a state chairman of a ruling party like the APC.

He said he was more pained by the loss of the Senatorial election by Governor Ayade, who would have become the frontline candidate for Senate President if he had won, a position the state and people of the northern senatorial district would have benefitted from significantly.

He presented some of the results in Echemofana ward where the State party chairman hails from, which he ought to have won effortlessly going by the enormous resources available to him but failed disastrously.

According to him, 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 Senator Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the party, were allegedly betrayed by Mr Eba who ridiculously scored low figures for them in the elections.

“For instance in the Presidential election at Igbeku Comprehensive Secondary School (013) APC got 115 votes while LP scored a whooping 178 votes. At Akreha Health Centre unit ( 015), APC had 49 votes while LP scored 128 votes. It was same story at the third polling unit, Playground Echemofana, Etiekpo unit ( 005) APC had 91votes recorded for it while LP polled 139.

“At unit 004, Igbeku Comprehensive Secondary School, APC had just 70 votes while LP scored 83 votes. At Playground Echiakpo, APC 111 votes while LP got 134 votes.

“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), APC got 71 votes while PDP went home with 109 votes and at Playground Oloko Ipuole Street (008), PDP had 92 while APC got 88 votes. At Playground Echiakpu (002), PDP had 138 votes APC 133 votes.

“In the Senate race contested by His Excellency, Sen. Ben Ayade, who has been so magnanimous to Mr Eba, the result in Echemofana was tear- inducing as the APC performed disastrously. At Igbeku Comprehensive Secondary School, (00) APC had 82 and PDP 88.

“At the same venue, (013) APC had 161, same PDP 161, in 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,” he stated.

He said that 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.

He added that the performance of the APC was shameful and fell far short of expectations considering the huge resources at the disposal of the State party chairman of APC.

Chief Onwe noted that it was quite unfortunate that the said Mr Eba was 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 was his prerogative to give appointments to party faithful.

High Chief Onwe urged the party members to focus more on building the party and reconciling aggrieved members rather than creating enemies within the party.

He stressed that Mr Eba ought to have since resigned without any prompting judging by the overall results of the elections 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, and where incidentally Mr Eba hails from.

“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 us and other groups in urging Mr Eba to resign immediately,” Onwe stated.