My alleged impeachment, replacement speculative, says Ayambem

Embattled Speaker of the Cross Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Elvert Ayambem, has debunked his impeachment, insisting he remains the Speaker of the State Assembly.

It would be recalled that there was a free for all fight in the Cross River State House of Assembly on Wednesday as 17 of the 25 members of the House impeached the Speaker, Elvert Ayambem, over allegations of misappropriation of funds.

The impeachment motion which was moved by Effiom Ekarika representing Calabar South 1 Constituency and seconded by Hon. Omang Charles Omang representing Bekwarra State Constituency, however, led to fisticuffs as members loyal to Ayambem engaged those in favour of the impeachment.

Meanwhile, the embattled Speaker reportedly held on to the mace and refused to let go.

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Majority of the lawmakers were said to have earlier passed a no-confidence vote on the Ayambem who represents Ikom 2 State Constituency in the House of Assembly.

The chaos which followed the impeachment motion led to a rowdy session as one of the lawmakers made a dash for the mace, the symbol of authority of the House but Ayambem refused to let go of it, leading to a struggle and a brawl in the chamber.

Ayambem, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Matthew Okache, said the House of Assembly is not aware of any impeachment notices being served to anyone before the frivolous act as 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 Rt Hon Elvert Ayambem is the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

“Mr. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem remains unconcerned and determined to elevate the Cross River State House of Assembly and support the Executive arm of government, led by His Excellency, Sen. Prince Bassey Edet Otu, in achieving the people’s first mantra.