By George Ozalla
Tension is rising within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ward 9, Esit Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, following a disputed move to suspend Rt. Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, a development that is now drawing legal threats and widening cracks in the local structure of the party.
The controversy took a sharper turn after an Ex-Officio member of the ward, Prophet Edet Ben, formally disowned the process in a sworn affidavit before the High Court in Uyo, insisting that no such meeting was held to consider any disciplinary action. He stated clearly that he neither attended nor endorsed any gathering on April 22, 2026, as claimed by those behind the suspension.
Ben went further to allege that his name and signature were inserted into an attendance list without his knowledge, distancing himself from the document and a related letter said to have been forwarded to party authorities. In a notice that followed, he demanded that his name be withdrawn from all materials linked to the exercise and called for a public retraction, warning that he would seek legal redress if the situation is not addressed within a day.
The suspension, said to have been announced by a faction within the ward, accused Eyiboh, Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, of anti-party activity. That claim has not gone down well with several party members who point to his recent involvement in grassroots mobilisation in support of leading APC figures, including President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Governor Umo Eno.
A local political group, Ward Nine New Era, had earlier dismissed the action and questioned both its basis and the manner it was carried out. The group argued that the process lacked legitimacy and wondered why Eyiboh alone was targeted when other known figures from the area who attended the same stakeholders’ meeting were not subjected to similar action. Those mentioned include former NDDC Managing Director Sir Bassey Dan-Abia, former Speaker of the State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Bassey Essien, former lawmaker Hon. Usoro Akpan-Uso and former Commissioner for Women Affairs Ini Adiakpan, among others.
Members of the group have asked party faithful to ignore the suspension, maintaining that it did not follow laid-down procedures and risks unsettling the ward at a delicate time.
What began as a disciplinary claim is now drifting into a wider dispute, with allegations of forgery and questions over due process hanging over the matter, leaving the ward leadership facing growing scrutiny from within.
