The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, has declined a request by the Rivers State House of Assembly to constitute a judicial panel to investigate Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, over allegations of gross misconduct, citing subsisting court orders restraining such action.
Justice Amadi made this known in a letter dated January 20, 2026, addressed to the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, in which he explained that two court injunctions expressly barred him from receiving, processing or acting on any request to set up an investigative panel against the governor.
According to the chief judge, the orders were served on his office on January 16, 2026, and remain valid and binding.
He stressed that constitutionalism and the rule of law compel all authorities to obey court orders, regardless of personal opinions about their propriety or correctness.
Justice Amadi further referenced judicial precedents, recalling a similar situation in 2007, when the Chief Judge of Kwara State was criticized for ignoring a restraining order and proceeding to constitute a panel. The action was subsequently nullified by the Court of Appeal.
The chief judge also noted that the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly had already filed an appeal challenging the injunctions at the Court of Appeal, thereby placing the matter under active judicial consideration.
By the doctrine of lis pendens, parties and the court must await the outcome of the appeal, Justice Amadi stated.
He explained that the existence of the injunctions, combined with the pending appeal, had legally constrained him from acting on the Assembly’s request.
In view of the foregoing, my hands are fettered, as there are subsisting interim orders of injunction and an 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 matter,” he said.
Justice Amadi appealed to members of the House to recognize the legal limitations surrounding the situation and urged them to be magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.
The development adds another layer to the ongoing political and legal tension in Rivers State, following moves by the state assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara
