The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Hon. Justice Simeon C. Amadi, has officially declined the Rivers State House of Assembly’s request to constitute a seven-man panel to investigate alleged gross misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara. The decision, contained in a letter dated January 20, 2026, was informed by subsisting interim court orders and pending appeals.
In her letter to the Speaker of the Assembly, Justice Amadi cited two separate interim injunctions issued on January 16, 2026, by the High Court of Rivers State. These court orders restrain the Chief Judge from receiving, considering, or acting on any request or resolution from the Assembly to investigate Governor Fubara and Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
“The law envisions a three-pronged restraint by virtue of the subsisting interim orders of injunction, the pending motion on notice for interlocutory injunction, and the pending suits,” Justice Amadi wrote. She emphasized that constitutionalism and the rule of law require all parties to obey existing court orders, regardless of perceived regularity.
Justice Amadi also referenced a precedent from Kwara State, where the Chief Judge was condemned for constituting an investigative panel despite an active restraining order, noting that such actions were nullified by the courts.
Furthermore, the Speaker of the Assembly has lodged an appeal against the injunctions at the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division. The Chief Judge noted that by the principle of lis pendens, all parties, including her office, must await the outcome of the appeal before taking further action.
“Given 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 matter,” Justice Amadi stated.
The Rivers State House of Assembly had sought the Chief Judge’s intervention under Section 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the Governor, following a resolution passed under Section 188(4) of the Constitution.
This development underscores the ongoing legal tussle between the state executive and legislature over accountability and the proper constitutional procedure for investigating elected officials.
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