He studied at Sacred Heart College, Aba, the Community Secondary School (COSGRAMS), Ugep, and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
He was the Chief Executive of Brecon Associates, Inter-urban Contracting Services and Dimaron Nigeria Limited[4] Ebri was elected into the 1989 Constituent Assembly, and in 1991 was elected as the Cross River state governor on the National Republican Convention platform, being forced out of office when General Sani Abacha took power as Head of State.
He contested in the 1998 All People's Party (APP) primaries to become their candidate for Cross River state governor in the 1999 elections after the return to democracy, but came second.
[6] In May 2006 Ebri urged the Federal Government to reform the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure free and fair elections in 2007.
[7] After the 2007 elections, he led the party into the Government of National Unity (GNU) under President Umaru Yar'Adua, while reserving the right to withdraw if problems arose.