The plot by the Rivers State House of Assembly to oust Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, has been stalled as the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Simeon Amadi, has declined to constitute a judicial panel to investigate the governor, citing a subsisting court order restraining him from taking such action.
On January 8, the lawmakers commenced impeachment proceedings against Fubara and his deputy.
The lawmakers launched the process after Major Jack, leader of the assembly, read gross misconduct charges against Fubara, endorsed by 26 members of the house.
On January 16, the lawmakers voted in favour of a motion requesting the chief judge to probe the gross misconduct allegations against Fubara and his deputy.
The allegations include budgetary impropriety, failure to present the 2026 appropriation bill to the assembly, unauthorised expenditure of public funds, withholding of statutory allocations to the legislature, and other acts deemed to constitute gross misconduct.
Subsequently, a high court in Port Harcourt issued an interim order restraining the chief judge from receiving or acting on any impeachment notice against Fubara and Odu.
Florence Fiberesima, the presiding judge, barred the chief judge from “receiving, forwarding, considering, or acting on any request, resolution, or articles of impeachment” submitted by members of the Rivers state house of assembly.
The lawmakers had asked the CJ to set up a seven-member panel to investigate Fubara and Ngozi Odu, his deputy, over allegations bordering on gross misconduct.
Under Section 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Chief Judge is the only authority empowered to constitute a seven-man judicial panel to investigate impeachment allegations against a governor or deputy governor. Without such a panel, the impeachment process cannot legally proceed.
In a letter dated January 20, 2026, and addressed to Martin Amaewhule, speaker of the Rivers house of assembly, Amadi said his hands were “fettered” by court injunctions.
Amadi said his office had been served with two interim orders on January 16, arising from suits filed by Fubara and Odu.
The chief judge said the interim orders expressly restrained him from considering or acting on any request, resolution or document relating to impeachment proceedings against the governor or deputy governor.
Amadi said Amaewhule has already lodged an appeal against the interim orders at the court of appeal in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers, noting that the notices of appeal were served on his office on January 19 and 20.
“By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal,” the letter reads.
“In view of the foregoing, my hand is fettered, as there are subsisting interim orders of injunction and appeal against the said orders. I am therefore legally disabled at this point from exercising my duties under Section 188(5) of the Constitution in the instant.”
The chief judge asked the Rivers state assembly to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”
Analysts said Justice Amadi had no room to act, as he is expressly named in an existing order of a Rivers State High Court, which restrains him from taking any step capable of advancing the impeachment process.
“There is a court order from a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt. The name of the Chief Judge is specifically mentioned. He cannot disobey the law. He must do exactly what the court says,” the source said.
According to the source, the restraining order makes it legally impossible for the Chief Judge to set up the requested panel, regardless of pressure from any faction of the House.
“If there was no court order, I can tell you sincerely that the Chief Judge would not have any option under the Constitution but to set up the investigative panel,” the source added.
The source, however, noted that while the faction of the Assembly led by Amaewhule may still challenge the ruling at the appellate court, the present order remains binding until set aside. “They may go on appeal, but as things stand, the Chief Judge has been ordered not to do anything contrary. Until that order is vacated, the impeachment process is effectively frozen.”
The development constitutes a major setback to the impeachment drive and deepens the high-stakes power struggle rocking Rivers politics.
Credit: The Sun