The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Chibuzor Simeon Amadi, has declined a request to constitute a seven-member panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.
In a letter dated January 20, 2026, and addressed to the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, Justice Amadi said he was legally restrained from acting on the request due to two subsisting court orders. The orders, which were served on his office on January 16, 2026, bar him from receiving, processing, or acting on any communication relating to the setting up of such a panel.
The Chief Judge stressed that adherence to constitutionalism and the rule of law obliges all authorities to respect valid court orders, regardless of personal opinions about their correctness.
He cited past judicial precedents, recalling a similar incident in 2007 in Kwara State where the Chief Judge was faulted for constituting an investigative panel despite a restraining court order. That action, he noted, was later nullified by the Court of Appeal.
Justice Amadi also disclosed that the Speaker of the Assembly has since filed an appeal against the restraining orders at the Court of Appeal, further complicating the legal process surrounding the allegations.
The Rivers State House of Assembly had earlier requested the Chief Judge to set up the panel as part of impeachment proceedings initiated against Governor Fubara and his deputy over alleged gross misconduct.
The impeachment move followed accusations by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who claimed that Governor Fubara violated the terms of a peace agreement brokered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in June last year.
While a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State aligned with Governor Fubara initially rejected the impeachment plan and called for a political solution, four lawmakers later withdrew from the process, raising hopes that the impeachment might be abandoned.
However, those hopes were short-lived. After failing to reconvene on January 15, the Assembly announced on January 16 that the impeachment process would continue. The four lawmakers who had earlier pulled out subsequently rejoined the move.
The Chief Judge’s refusal to constitute the investigative panel has now raised fresh questions about the viability of the impeachment process as legal and political tensions continue to mount in the state.
