Former Cross River APC Chairman Alphonsus Eba Quits Party, Cites Erosion of Core Values
Something significant has quietly happened in the political landscape of Cross River State. And though it came without fanfare, without a press conference, without the usual theatrics that accompany major political exits in Nigeria — its implications deserve careful attention.
Alphonsus Ogar Eba Esq., the immediate past Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Cross River State, has walked out of the party he once led. Formally. Officially. And with a letter sharp enough to leave a mark.
The Letter That Said Everything Without Saying Too Much
Akahi News gathered that Eba submitted his resignation letter on the 7th of May, 2026, addressed to the Secretary of the APC in Echumofana Ward, Yala Local Government Area — the ward that has always been his political base.
The letter bore a title that left no room for ambiguity: “Letter Of Withdrawal Of Membership/Request To Delist My Name From The Hard Copy And Digital Register Of APC.”
He was not merely resigning. He was asking to be erased — from the hard copy register and from the digital records — before those records are transmitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission. That is a deliberate, legally conscious step. The man knows what he is doing. And he wants it done properly.
In the letter, Eba wrote: “I write to inform you that I have withdrawn my membership of All Progressives Congress and I humbly request that you delist my name from the hard copy and digital register of the party before transmitting same to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”
Clean. Precise. Final.
“Jiggery Pokery” — The Words That Will Be Remembered
But it was not the legal formality of the letter that caught the eye. It was one particular passage — raw, undiplomatic, and unmistakably personal.
Eba wrote of the values he brought into the party. Peace. Love. Unity. Growth. He called them the watchword of what he described as his Political Evangelical mission. These were not decorative words for him. They were, apparently, the very reason he joined the APC and gave himself to its cause.
And then he declared that those values had been — his words — “totally eroded, annihilated and jettisoned with jiggery pokery.”
Jiggery pokery. A phrase that means trickery, manipulation, underhand dealings. It is a phrase that a man uses when he has exhausted polite language. When he has decided that sugar-coating is no longer honest.
It was alleged that the internal workings of the Cross River APC, particularly in the period leading to the congress that produced new executive officers in the state, were anything but peaceful. Eba’s words seem to confirm what many had whispered.
A Man Who Appreciated Even the Ill-Will
One of the most striking aspects of this letter is its peculiar graciousness. Even in departure, Eba chose to acknowledge not just the goodwill he received during his tenure as State Chairman — but also the ill-will.
“I appreciate the support, love, goodwill as well as the ill-will meted out to me,” he wrote.
That line alone tells a story. A man who names the ill-will alongside the goodwill is a man who has processed his experiences fully. Who has made peace with the full spectrum of what he encountered. There is something almost philosophical about it — and something deeply Nigerian, too. The capacity to carry gratitude and grievance in the same hand, and still wish the other party well.
“I wish the party well,” he concluded.
Short. Dignified. And perhaps just slightly pointed.
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The Expulsion That Came Before the Exit
To fully appreciate what this resignation means, one must first understand what preceded it.
Akahi News learnt that Eba was expelled from the APC before the congress that ushered in the new executive committee in Cross River State. That is a detail that reframes everything.
This is not simply the story of a man who chose to leave. It is the story of a man who was pushed — and who has now, months later, formalised that separation on his own terms. There is agency in that. A reclaiming of narrative.
Being expelled from a political party you once chaired is humiliating in any context. In Nigerian politics, where loyalty and structure are everything, it carries a particular sting. It signals not just a policy disagreement, but a complete breakdown of trust — a declaration by the party that this man no longer belongs.
And yet, rather than fade into bitterness or political irrelevance, Eba has chosen to respond with a formal letter, carefully worded, copied to all the relevant authorities — from the National Chairman of the APC all the way to the Echumofana Ward Chairman. Every tier of the party received a copy. Nothing was left to chance or word of mouth.
That is the behaviour of a man who intends to be heard. And remembered.
Cross River’s APC: A Party Under Pressure
The resignation of a former state chairman — especially one expelled under contentious circumstances — is never just a personal story. It is a symptom of something larger.
Cross River State has long been a theatre of intense political competition, where alliances shift with the seasons and the line between loyalty and opportunism is frequently blurred. The APC in the state has navigated its share of internal turbulence, and the congress that Eba references — the one that produced new executives — was not without its controversies.
When a man of Eba’s stature, someone who led the party at state level, publicly declares that its founding values have been “annihilated,” it is a damning verdict. Not from an opposition critic. Not from a political enemy. From someone who was once at the very helm.
What does that say about the state of the party in Cross River? And who, within the APC’s national leadership, is paying attention?
These are questions that deserve honest answers. Not press releases. Not denials. Honest answers.
Political Evangelism: What Did He Mean?
Eba’s framing of his political mission as evangelism is worth pausing on. It is an unusual choice of word in Nigerian political discourse — though perhaps not entirely surprising in a country where religion and politics are so deeply intertwined.
To evangelise is to spread a message with conviction. To go where others may not. To believe that what you carry is transformative enough to change the environment you enter.
Eba seems to have genuinely believed that his presence in the APC could plant and sustain certain values — peace, love, unity, growth. Whether that belief was idealistic or strategic or both, only he can say. But the language reveals something important: this was not merely a career move for him. It was a calling, as he understood it.
And callings, when thwarted, do not simply dissolve. They redirect.
He has already indicated that he is seeking “an alternative platform” where he can continue this political evangelism. He did not name the party. He did not need to. The announcement will come in its own time.
What Comes Next for Alphonsus Eba?
The political world of Cross River State will now watch with keen interest. Where does a former APC state chairman go after such a departure? Which party opens its doors? Under what terms?
In Nigerian politics, defections are rarely permanent verdicts. Men cross from APC to PDP and back again. From LP to NNPP. From one acronym to another. What matters is the momentum a man carries when he arrives at the new destination — and whether he arrives with followers, with structure, with purpose.
Eba’s letter suggests he leaves with his dignity intact. Whether he leaves with his political network equally intact remains the more consequential question.
The coming weeks will be instructive. An announcement of a new political home is likely not far off. And when it comes, it will tell the fuller story of what Alphonsus Ogar Eba intends to do next.
A Broader Question for Nigeria’s Political Parties
Beyond Cross River, beyond the APC, this story touches something universal in Nigerian political experience.
How many men and women join political parties with genuine conviction — with values they hope to plant, with missions they hope to fulfil — only to find those values ground into dust by the machinery of power?
How many ward chairmen, local government officials, state executives, and elected representatives have swallowed their principles quietly, without a letter, without a formal exit, simply because speaking out seemed too costly?
Eba chose differently. He wrote the letter. He named what he saw. He wished them well and walked away.
It is not a child’s play, leaving the structure that gave you relevance in Nigerian politics. The risks are real. The uncertainty is real. But there are moments when a man must choose between comfort and conscience.
And on the 7th of May, 2026, in Echumofana Ward, Yala Local Government Area, Alphonsus Ogar Eba made his choice.
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Reported by Joseph Iyaji for Akahi News — your trusted source for credible news across Nigeria and beyond.
