Cross River Lawmakers’ Earnings, Shadow Allocations & the Real Cost of Speaker Ayambem’s “Empowerment”

Cross River Lawmakers’ Earnings, Shadow Allocations & the Real Cost of Speaker Ayambem’s “Empowerment”

Originally published on Calabar Gist by Ukorebi Esien

In his September 21, 2025 meeting at the Ernest Etim Bassey Press Centre in Calabar, Rt. Hon. Hilary Bisong (Boki II State Constituency), alongside journalists Efio-Ita Nyok and Ukorebi Esien, disclosed figures that should raise every Cross Riverian’s eyebrow. What was sold as transparency now reads more like an exposure of a system that prizes spectacle over substance.

What Bisong Claims: The “Legit” Salaries

Bisong revealed that ordinary members of the Cross River State House of Assembly draw a basic salary of about ₦680,000 monthly, while ranking members pull in ₦750,000. On top of that, he says, each legislator pocketed ₦1.5 million in overhead, plus ₦200,000 for staff (PAs, SAs, media aides), bringing each member’s monthly take to approximately ₦2.4 million.

At face value, these numbers are enough to make many Nigerians stare in disbelief — and rightly so.

What He Denies — and What He Later Admits

When pressed about “other subheads” (the hidden allowances that lawmakers sometimes deny), Bisong first laughed them off. But later he admitted that under the 2025 amendment to the Cross River State Local Government Law, the Assembly’s share of Local Government allocations was bumped from 0.5% to 1%. He lamented, however, that the House hadn’t seen a Naira of that allocation in over a year.

That admission is telling — not just about the gap between law and practice, but about how fiction and accounting often dance together in the corridors of power.

The Math Doesn’t Match the Story

Let’s do some cold arithmetic:

• The 18 LGAs in Cross River receive between ₦300 million and ₦600 million monthly from FAAC.
• If we take the lower bound (₦300 million), 1% translates to ₦5.4 billion monthly.
• That should, by law, go to the State Assembly. Divided among 25 members, that’s ~₦216 million per member monthly.
• Even if the Assembly “returns” 90% of that to the state, each member would still get ₦20 million monthly — in addition to the ₦2.4 million already claimed as salary and allowances.

Either Bisong’s figures are painfully understated, or large sums are being moved through back channels no official wants to admit.

The “Empowerment” That Money Can Buy

With those kinds of sums, it becomes nearly impossible to swallow the narrative that Speaker Elvert Ayambem’s empowerment programmes were financed from legislative thrift. The ₦2.4 million per member cover story doesn’t hold up under scrutiny — especially when rumors of extra largesse, such as the ₦25 million “constituency package” given to members last December, circulate with alarming consistency.

If each member did get ₦25 million, that’s over and above whatever salary or allowances they already claim. And that kind of “gift” begs multiple questions: Who footed the bill? What conditions, if any, came with it? And crucially, why was it necessary?

Faulty Implementation or Willful Concealment?

To be fair, the article from Calabar Gist is clear: this is not an outright indictment but a call for transparency in a system known for opacity. Still, one glaring question lingers — do legislators always receive what has been legally approved?

Cross River is no stranger to discrepancies. LGAs often expect allocations over ₦500 million monthly but reportedly receive closer to ₦50 million. Meanwhile, the Assembly may be legally entitled to huge sums, but “receiving” those funds seems more of a myth than a reality.

When Politics and Money Collide

Let’s not forget the political theatre surrounding the Assembly. Speaker Ayambem himself has faced impeachment attempts — moves ostensibly tied to alleged financial mismanagement. But if each member does indeed command millions monthly, impeachment politics take on a different sheen: it’s not just about power or principle — it’s about who controls the purse.

And it’s not just insiders pointing it out. Credible sources tell this publication that Governor Bassey Edet Otu has, at various times, “greeted” lawmakers with significant cash injections behind the scenes. In political terms, that’s not generosity — it’s debt and political leverage.

Final Word: The People Must Demand Answers

This piece by Ukorebi Esien (via Calabar Gist) uncovers uncomfortable truths that many in Cross River would prefer stay hidden. The law may prescribe allocations; the public record may list salaries; but what actually transits from treasury to pockets remains murky.

The assembly is not above accountability. If the numbers don’t add up — and in this case, they horrifically don’t — then the people deserve answers, not spin.

CC: Conveseer
By: Ukorebi Esien for Calabar Gist