The impeached speaker of the Cross-River state house of assembly Elvert Ayambem has insisted that he remains the speaker of the assembly and described Wednesday’s proceedings as a “ridiculous charade with no constitutional basis.”
Ayambem was impeached by 17 out of 25 members of the state assembly on Wednesday, however, his chief press secretary, Matthew Okache, in a statement hours later, denounced the move claiming the house was not aware of any impeachment notice being served to anyone.
The statement read, “The Cross River State House of Assembly has been alerted to false news reports that the Cross River State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt Hon. Elvert Ayambem has been impeached.
“To be clear, the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly is without a doubt Rt. Hon Elvert Ayambem, and that is the current position. What happened earlier today (Wednesday) during the plenary, when Hon. Effiong Akarika, a member representing Calabar South 1, disrupted the session by inviting hoodlums to enter the chamber, which 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 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.
“Also note that the removal of the speaker and election is not done anywhere but within prescient of the Assembly Complex.”
