THE embattled Cross River State chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Alphonsus Eba, has rejected his purported impeachment, saying "it is a joke taken too far.

Reacting in a telephone interview, Eba said: "My purported impeachment is a joke taking too far, God will speak at the appropriate time. I won't say more than this for now."

Eba's removal followed an emergency meeting of the State Executive Committee (SEC), which was held at the State Secretariat in Calabar on Thursday.

The removal was carried out after 30 of the 32 members of the State Executive Council, (SEC) voted against his continued stay as the Chairman of the APC in Cross River.

It was noted that the decision to impeach him followed a similar vote of no confidence against him by the local government chairmen, secretaries, and vice chairmen of the party.

Similarly, his impeachment was further supported by the vote of no confidence passed on him by the 196 ward chairmen of the APC in the state.

Following Eba's impeachment, the State Working Committee (SWC) met and appointed an acting chairman, Mr Ekum Ojogu.

The motion for the appointment of an acting chairman was raised by the State Welfare Secretary of the party, Mr Okara Ekawu, and seconded by the state treasurer, Dr Mathew Egom.

Ekawu premised his motion on article 17 subsection 6 of the party's constitution and further noted that the appointment be made pending the ratification of the National Working Committee (NWC).

Meanwhile, the acting chairman, Mr Ekum Ojogu, who promised to work for the unity of the party, appealed to all aggrieved members to close ranks and confine the event of the past few weeks to "dustbin of history."

According to him, "I will fight for the party's stability and so, I appeal to us all to set aside any differences and misunderstandings that may have arisen during the crisis and let's work for the interests of the APC.