…Court Injunction Has “Fettered My Hands,” Chief Judge Tells Assembly
By Jeremy Fregene
Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has secured a temporary reprieve in the impeachment process initiated against him and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, following the refusal of the state Chief Judge, Justice Chibuzor Simeon Amadi, to constitute a panel to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct.
In a letter dated January 20, 2026, addressed to the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, the Chief Judge said subsisting court orders had legally disabled him from acting on the lawmakers’ request.
Justice Amadi disclosed that two interim injunctions, served on his office on January 16, expressly barred him from receiving, forwarding, considering, or acting on any request to set up an investigative panel in relation to the impeachment notice against Governor Fubara and his deputy.
Emphasising the supremacy of the rule of law, the Chief Judge said all authorities are bound to obey valid court orders, irrespective of their personal views on such orders.
Citing the doctrine of lis pendens, Justice Amadi noted that once a matter is before the court and under appeal, all parties must await the outcome of the judicial process.
“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,” he stated.
The Chief Judge also drew attention to judicial precedents, recalling that in 2007 the Chief Judge of Kwara State was criticised for ignoring a restraining court order to constitute an impeachment panel—an action later voided by the Court of Appeal.
He further observed that the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly has already lodged an appeal against the interim orders at the Court of Appeal, a development that, he said, further complicates the legal environment surrounding the impeachment process.
Justice Amadi urged the lawmakers to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”
The Rivers State House of Assembly had on January 8 commenced impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara and his deputy, after Major Jack, leader of the House, read allegations of gross misconduct against the governor, reportedly endorsed by 26 lawmakers.
On January 16, the Assembly passed a motion requesting the Chief Judge to constitute a seven-member panel to probe the allegations.
The accusations include alleged budgetary impropriety, failure to present the 2026 appropriation bill to the House, unauthorised expenditure of public funds, withholding of statutory allocations to the legislature, and other acts said to amount to gross misconduct.
However, a High Court in Port Harcourt subsequently issued interim orders restraining the Chief Judge from acting on any impeachment notice.
In the ruling, Justice Florence Fiberesima 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, effectively halting the impeachment process, at least for now.