SPEAKER of the Cross River State House of Assembly Elvert Anyambem has been removed from office by two-thirds of the Assembly members.
This occurred during plenary on Wednesday, May 22, when the aggrieved members passed a vote of no-confidence on the Speaker, alleging several infractions, including gross financial misconduct and noncompliance with the Cross River State Legislature Funds Management Laws of 2021.
In the removal notice seen by The ICIR, Anyambem was accused of misappropriating N48 million originally intended for payment of electricity bills for the House of Assembly Complex and Quarters.
He was also accused of embezzling over N19 million from local government deductions and N404 million generated by the State’s Inland Revenue Service (IRS) for oversight functions by the House.
The legislators further alleged that Anyambem was incompetent, conducted plenary proceedings wrongly and failed to convene leadership meetings.
“Leadership meeting held only once in 11 months since the inception of the House,” the legislators noted.
Less than a year ago, the Cross River House of Assembly passed a vote of confidence on Anyambem after he was expelled by the University of Calabar, where he had been studying Economics.
According to a report, Deputy Speaker of the House Sylvester Agabi moved the motion for a vote of confidence on behalf of other legislators.
He said that certain successes recorded by the House within a month of its inauguration were a result of Anyambem’s leadership, and described him as the people’s Speaker.
Despite the encomium showered on him last year, Anyambem has now been removed from his position in a decision backed by a majority of the House of Assembly members.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.