The political crisis in Rivers State took a fresh turn on Thursday as the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Simeon Amadi, declined to constitute a judicial panel to investigate Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Justice Amadi said his decision followed subsisting court orders, coming after the Rivers State House of Assembly requested him to set up a seven-member panel to probe the governor and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.
The Assembly had made the request after initiating impeachment proceedings against both officials over allegations of gross misconduct.
In a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, who led the impeachment process, Justice Amadi cited two court orders which, he said, barred him from receiving, forwarding, or considering any request to establish such a panel.
He stated that the orders were served on his office on 16 January 2026 and remained valid and binding.
The Chief Judge stressed that all authorities were duty-bound to obey subsisting court orders, as required by constitutionalism and the rule of law, regardless of their perception of the orders’ validity.
Justice Amadi further disclosed that the Speaker had filed an appeal against the orders at the Court of Appeal, describing the move as an additional layer in the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the impeachment allegations.
He also referenced legal precedents from Kwara State in 2007, where a Chief Judge was condemned for disregarding a restraining court order and setting up an investigative panel. The action was later nullified by the Court of Appeal.
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Meanwhile, The Port City News (TCPN) reported that a High Court sitting in Oyigbo Local Government Area issued an interim injunction halting further steps in the impeachment process against Governor Fubara and his deputy.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Florence Fiberesima ordered Mr Amaewhule and 32 other defendants to cease all actions relating to the impeachment.
The court also restrained the Clerk of the House and the Chief Judge of Rivers State from receiving, forwarding, considering, or acting on any impeachment-related request or document from the Assembly for the purpose of constituting an investigative panel, pending the determination of the suit.
Fiberesima ruled that the interim injunction would remain in force for seven days.
