The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon C. Amadi, has declined a request by the Rivers State House of Assembly to constitute a seven-member investigative panel to probe allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Nma-Odu, citing subsisting court orders and a pending appeal.

Justice Amadi’s decision was communicated in a formal letter to the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, acknowledging receipt of two requests dated January 16, 2026. The requests, made under Sections 188(4) and 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), followed resolutions of the Assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings.

However, the Chief Judge said he was legally restrained from acting due to existing court injunctions and an appeal already before a higher court.

“By the doctrine of lis pendens, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal,” the letter read in part.
“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.”

Justice Amadi disclosed that his office had been served with two interim injunctions issued on January 16, 2026, by the Rivers State High Court sitting in Oyigbo. The suits—OYHC/6/CS/2026, filed by the Deputy Governor, and OYHC/7/CS/2026, filed by Governor Fubara—named the Speaker and 32 others as defendants, with the Chief Judge listed as the 32nd defendant.

According to him, the interim orders expressly restrain the Chief Judge from “receiving, forwarding, considering or howsoever acting on any request, resolution, articles of impeachment or other communication” from the House of Assembly relating to the impeachment process for seven days. Certified true copies of the orders were attached to his correspondence.

The Chief Judge further noted that the Speaker and the House of Assembly have already challenged the injunctions at the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, adding that notices of appeal were served on his office on January 19 and 20.

Invoking the doctrine of lis pendens, Justice Amadi stressed that once a matter is before a higher court, all parties must maintain the status quo until it is determined. He also underscored the supremacy of the rule of law, noting that valid court orders must be obeyed until set aside.

He cited judicial precedent, including Hon. Dele Abiodun v. The Hon. Chief Judge of Kwara State & Ors (2007), where a Chief Judge was faulted for constituting an investigative panel in defiance of a restraining court order.

Appealing to the lawmakers, Justice Amadi urged the Assembly to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”

The development effectively stalls the impeachment process initiated by the Rivers State House of Assembly, pushing the dispute fully into the judicial arena pending the outcome of the appeal at the Court of Appeal and the substantive suits before the High Court.