Alphonsus Eba, the sacked chairman of the APC in Cross River State, may have lost the sympathy of all those who tried to defend him at the heat of his travails, after he went on air to spew diatribes against the governor, Senator Bassey Otu.
In an effort to pitch Otu against the immediate past governor, Senator Ben Ayade, Eba had mad sweeping comments against the governor, including claims that he made it possible for the governor to emerge at a time that he was to be disqualified.
Sounding very arrogant on one hand during the interview on national television last week, Eba had, in contrast to his claims of loyalty to the governor, castigated Otu for allegedly refusing to fix the road to his community, despite all the sacrifices he made for him, to make him governor.
His vituperations may have angered major stakeholders in the state, including National Assembly members and local government chairmen who have now united against him. In fact, the council chairmen want the party at the national level to suspend him.
This came a few days after members of the House of Representatives caucus from the state had affirmed his removal from office and rejected him as their chairman.
On Monday, the council chairmen said in a statement that Eba deserved to be suspended immediately as a member of the party.
“We, the undersigned Chairmen of the 18 Local Government Councils, hereby call for the immediate suspension of Barr. Alphonsus Eba as a member and former State Chairman of the APC.
“This call for suspension is predicated on his egregious violation of Article 21 (2)(xi)of the APC Constitution, which explicitly states that members are prohibited from filing actions in a court of law against the party or any of its officers on matters relating to the discharge of the party’s duties without first exhausting all available avenues of redress provided for in the party’s constitution.
“By instituting legal proceedings without adhering to the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms, Barr. Eba has demonstrated a blatant disregard for the party’s rules and constitution.
“We urge the party’s disciplinary organs to take immediate action to suspend Barr. Eba’s membership pending further investigation and disciplinary action,” the chairmen said in the state statement by Yibala Igri Inyang, chairman of the forum of council chairmen, as well as the 17 other chairmen.
