In the flowing currents of Cross River politics, where loyalties once ran deep as the Calabar River, Barr. Alphonsus Ogar Eba (Okadigbo) now dances a curious masquerade. Once the self-anointed “Political Evangelist,” he lifted his voice in holy cadence, proclaiming Prince Bassey Edet Otu as the “Sweetest Prince,” a political giant forged for a divine moment. Today, cloaked in PDP colours as running mate, the same voice spits fire and innuendo, peddling the Governor’s oil wells crusade as “namby-pamby patriotic jingoism” and “premature political ejaculation.”
Oh, how the mighty tongue has turned!
Yesterday’s Sacred Praises, Today’s Poisoned Arrows
When Eba sat upon the APC throne, his words flowed like anointing oil:
–In January 2023, campaigning in Ogoja, he thundered that Otu had “done what none of the other governorship candidates has ever done,” his record shining like a beacon above all rivals.
–In April 2023, he vowed that the mistakes of the Ayade era “would not repeat in Otu’s government,” presenting the Governor as the long-awaited redeemer of good governance.
–He proudly took credit for transparent primaries that birthed Otu’s candidacy and presided over a vote of confidence that celebrated this “legitimate” emergence.
–As the Governor’s emissary in Mbube, he preached the “People First” gospel, tying community empowerment to Otu’s visionary heart.
–In March 2024, he shielded Otu from witch-hunt accusations, declaring asset recovery an act of justice, not vendetta.
–Even as late as November 2025, Eba sang that Otu’s leadership was orchestrating political realignments and swelling the APC’s ranks like a rising tide.
These were not whispers in the corridor. They were trumpet blasts from the party’s high priest.
The Fall That Shattered the Pulpit
But thrones built on sand eventually shift. In December 2025, the APC State Executive Committee — 30 out of 32 members — impeached Eba in a thunderous vote of no confidence. The charges were heavy: alleged financial mismanagement and embezzlement of party funds, months of unpaid salaries and stipends to loyal party workers, authoritarian style that alienated even his lieutenants, and the prolonged closure of the party secretariat, which left the grassroots gasping for breath.
Petitions from the chapters had piled like storm clouds. The “Political Evangelist” cried foul, ran to the courts, but the tide had turned. He eventually resigned from the APC and sought new shelter under the torn multi-coloured umbrella of the PDP.
The mask slipped. What we see now is not righteous indignation — it is the howl of a man whose personal altar was overturned.
A Balanced Gaze Upon the “People First” Record
No government wears the garment of perfection. Governor Otu’s administration has faced legitimate questions — on the pace of certain projects, persistent flooding in vulnerable communities, and welfare concerns for some public servants. But, the reader would agree that development is a long and winding road.
Yet the scales tilt with visible achievement. Roads stretching over 426 kilometres have been reborn — Calabar-Akamkpa, Okuku-Yala, and urban arteries breathing again.
Schools refurbished, WAEC and NECO fees paid for indigenes, healthcare facilities upgraded, and maternal care strengthened. In agriculture, farmers have seen income boosts, mini-tractors distributed, and Cross River positioned as the first state with a licensed soil fertility map. The bold, patriotic push to reclaim lost as well as discover new oil wells while reviving legacy assets like Tinapa (after recovery from AMCON) stands as a defining quest for the state’s economic soul. Salaries and pensions flow with greater consistency (whilst not forgetting the resumption of payment of gratuities after an 8-year impasse), security has been reinforced, and tourism is being repositioned.
These are not mere slogans. They are footprints on the soil of governance.
The Bitter Refrain
Now, from the opposition pulpit, the same Eba demands “#ExposetheBribeGiver” over alleged phantom billions designed to compromise the state’s chief executive, questioning the very oil wells recovery process he once operated within the system to advance. The evangelist who defended Otu now seeks to crucify him with.
Besides, the Forum is aware of Eba’s subterranean moves to blackmail the incumbent governor of Cross River through the recently published quality-of-life report by SBM Intelligence. However, and as was expected of such a shabby work, there was significant methodological limitations, analytical overreach, and sweeping generalisations that substantially weakened the credibility of the conclusions regarding the State. To imagine that one could go this low about a government one had hitherto praised to the high heavens is instructive of one thing: like a river that suddenly reverses course, Eba’s transformation reveals more about the man than the Governor. This is not prolocutor speaking truth to power — it is sour grapes dressed in borrowed robes.
The Verdict of History and the People
Cross Riverians, children of a proud heritage, know that character is revealed not in the season of feasting but in the hour of setback. Eba’s poetic fall from grace — from chief praise-singer to chief accuser — strips bare any claim to moral high ground. Governor Bassey Otu’s “People First” journey, though imperfect, continues with tangible motion: building, healing, reclaiming, and planting seeds for a greater tomorrow.
The chameleon may change its colours, but the river remembers its true path.
Which way, Cross River? Not the way of the weather-vane, but the way of record, resilience, and results. In 2027, the people — clear-eyed and unwavering — shall speak with their thumbs and their hearts.
Signed:
Barr. Eyo Nsa Ekpo
Chairman
Cross River State Consultative Forum
&
Dr. Julius Ochim Okputu
Secretary
Cross River State Consultative Forum
Issued in Calabar
10th June, 2026
…For Equity. For History. For Progress.
