*I Remain Speaker, Elvert Ayambem Insists
THE Cross River State House of Assembly Speaker, Elvert Anyambem, has been impeached.
The impeachment was carried out during a sitting of the Assembly in which he was presiding
However, Anyambem has insisted that he remained the Speaker of the Assembly, despite his removal by 17 of the 25-member Assembly, who had signed a notice of his impeachment, describing the process as unlawful, in a statement released on Wednesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Matthew Okache.
The impeachment, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, May 22, during plenary on the floor of the Assembly, followed a motion of urgent public interest moved by the member representing Calabar South 1 State Constituency, Effiong Ekarika, and seconded by the member representing Bekwarra State Constituency, Charles Omang.
According to an impeachment letter signed by 17 of the 25 members of the House and read by Charles Omang, Anyambem was removed because of gross misconduct, financial misappropriation and administrative high handedness, incompetence, among others.
He said Anyambem outer from office was in line with Order 24 of the Rules of the Cross River State House of Assembly and
pursuant to Section 92(2XC) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
Omang stated: “Having met the constitutional requirement of two-thirds majority, we, the under listed members of the Cross River State House of Assembly, hereby pass a vote-of-no- confidence on Elvert Ayambem, Speaker of the House of Assembly, and he is hereby removed.”
Specifically, the lawmakers accused Anyambem of gross financial misconduct; misappropriation of the sum of N48million meant to pay electricity bills for the House of Assembly complex and House of Assembly Quarters; misappropriation of two per cent of all revenue collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) monthly for oversight functions of the Assembly, in line with Section 18(a)(i) of the Cross River State Revenue Administration Law 2011, as amended, to the tune of N404,683,855.10
They also accused him of misappropriation of the sum of N19,437,844.00 from local government deduction and 11 months deductions, which he willfully failed to disclose to the members; incompetence, wrong conduct of plenary proceedings, un-parliamentary way of conducting proceedings and
appointment of members to move or second motions,
allowing interested members to raise their hands; arbitrary approval of expenditure, in flagrant breach of the provisions of Section 9(1) of the Cross River State Legislature Fund Management Law 2021; and approvals beyond the limit which the Speaker can approve, contrary to Section g(10) of the Cross River State Legislature Funds Management Law 2021.
In addition, the 17 members also accused Anyambem of perpetual refusal to inaugurate the Legistative Funds Management Committee, as required by Section s(1) of the Cross River State Legislature Funds Management Law 2021 and total failure to convene leadership meetings, which has only been held once in 11 month since the inception of
the Assembly.
To buttress their allegations, the members presented Internal Revenue Service remittance; pictures of a gigantic house under construction by Anyambem, located at
Summit Hills Calabar, within 11 months in office.
Then comotion ensued, as the lawmakers started to struggle for possession of the Mace, which is the symbol of authority of the Speaker of the Assembly.
Okache, in the statement, on behalf of Anyambem, said Ekarika, who proposed moved the motion for his impeachment, had disturbed the plenary by “inviting hoodlums to enter the chamber.”
The statement read: “The Cross River State House of Assembly has been alerted to false news reports that the Speaker, Elvert Ayambem, has been impeached.
“To be clear, the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly is, without a doubt, Elvert Ayambem. He is in the current position.
“What happened earlier today (Wednesday) during the plenary, when Akarika disrupted the session by inviting hoodlums to enter the chamber, is a ridiculous charade with no constitutional basis.
“The House of Assembly is not aware of any impeachment notices being served to anyone before the frivolous act witnessed at the chambers. The alleged impeachment and replacement are speculative and the general public is urged to disregard fake news and dismiss any notion of a crisis.
“The status quo is that Elvert Ayambem is the Speaker of the House of Assembly.”
The embattled, however, said he was unfazed by the said impeachment and determined to elevate the Assembly and Governor Bassey Otu’s administration.
Meanwhile, security personnel have taken over the Assembly complex to prevent break down of law and order until normalcy returns to the legislature.
