Activities at the Cross River State Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Calabar were on Wednesday disrupted by protesting members who demanded the immediate resignation of the state’s party chairman, Alphonsus Eba.

The protestors, which included 35 local government (LG) chairmen and secretaries of the party, padlocked the gate of the secretariat.

Armed with placards of various inscriptions, the protesters accused the chairman of high-handedness and financial mismanagement.

Some of the placards read, “We are tired of your insolence and arrogance; APC in Cross River needs fresh air; Eba must go; and Eba, your time is up, you must resign.”

The 35 LG chairmen and secretaries of the party, after their meeting on Tuesday, issued a communiqué calling for Mr Eba’s resignation.

The meeting, convened under the banner of “Forum of APC Chapter Chairmen and Secretaries,” accused Mr Eba of destabilising, destructive, and anti-progressive actions in piloting the party’s affairs in Cross River State.

The forum chairman, Kelvin Njong, who read the communiqué, demanded Mr Eba’s resignation.

They also accused the chairman of instigating chapter and ward party officials against the chapter leadership.

They further accused him of refusal to remit the percentage meant for the LGAs and wards from the sales of forms during the 2023 general elections.

“While the local government areas and wards comprising 5,778 party officials were given N9.2 million, the state executive with just 36 members took N40 million. This is gross injustice and typical of the chairman. We also have other sundry remittances from the National Secretariat that are unaccounted for,” they said.

However, the chairman dismissed allegations of high-handedness and financial mismanagement levelled against him by the chapter chairmen.

Mr Eba described the accusations as laughable, insisting that the chapter chairmen were “running away from their shadows” after allegedly embezzling ₦60 million meant for ward and chapter executives.

Police personnel were on ground to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order during the protest.

(NAN)