Speaker of Cross River State House of Assembly, Elvert Ayambem, has been removed following a vote of no confidence passed by two-third majority of the Assembly members.
Hon. Effiong Ekarika representing Calabar South 1 moved the motion on the floor of the Assembly, supported by Omang Omang of Bekwara state constituency.
The impeachment led to pandemonium in House.
Meanwhile a section of the Assembly has moved to former Transcorp Hotel to install a new Speaker.
In the last few months, Ayambem had probed former Governor Ben Ayade’s style of governance, alleged diversions of state resources and concessions of factories for himself and his cronies.
He also recovered state properties, vehicles, tractors which he alleged were stolen by Ayade and his officials.
The lawmakers cited gross financial misconduct, incompetence, noncompliance with legislative laws, and failure to convene leadership meetings as the grounds for Ayambem’s removal.
They accused him of inability to account for N48 million meant for electricity bills and over N404 million from the Internal Revenue Service designated for oversight functions.
They also alleged that the Assembly leadership had not been able to account for N20 million from local government deductions.
Those that impeached him also alleged incompetence and wrong conduct of plenary proceedings.
They further accused him of appointing members to move or second motions, rather than following the democratic practice of allowing members to volunteer.
According to the angry legislators, Ayambem did not comply with legislative laws.
They said he also violated the Cross River State Legislature Funds Management Law of 2021 by his arbitrary approval of expenditures beyond his authorized limit and the refusal to inaugurate the Legislative Funds Management Committee.
The fourth and final ground of his impeachment was anchored on the failure to convene leadership meetings, with only one of such meetings held in the past 11 months.
“This lack of engagement has been perceived as a neglect of duty and a failure to foster collaborative governance within the House,” they said.
The opposing law makers displayed documents Internal Revenue Service and photographs of a luxurious house under construction allegedly funded by embezzled funds, saying these further tainted the reputation of the former Speaker.
