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Rivers Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, refuses to set up panel to probe Governor Siminalayi Fubara
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Judge says subsisting court orders bar him from acting on Assembly’s request
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Appeal already before Court of Appeal, invokes doctrine of lis pendens
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.
Justice Amadi’s decision was conveyed in a letter dated January 20 and addressed to the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule.
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The House of Assembly had earlier asked the chief judge to set up a seven-member panel as part of impeachment proceedings against the governor and his deputy.
However, Justice Amadi said he was restrained by two subsisting court orders that prohibit him from receiving, processing, or acting on any request to establish such a panel.
According to the chief judge, the court orders were served on his office on January 16, 2026, and remain valid and binding.
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He stressed that constitutionalism and the rule of law require strict obedience to court orders, regardless of any party’s disagreement with them.
Justice Amadi cited a legal precedent from 2007, noting that the then Chief Judge of Kwara State was faulted by the Court of Appeal for constituting an investigative panel despite a restraining court order, a decision later nullified.
The chief judge also disclosed that the Speaker of the Rivers Assembly has already appealed the injunctions at the Court of Appeal.
He said the existence of the appeal further limits his ability to act, invoking the legal doctrine of lis pendens, which requires all parties to await the outcome of ongoing litigation.
“My hands are fettered by subsisting interim orders of injunction and the pending appeal against those orders,” Justice Amadi said.
He added that he is legally unable, at this point, to exercise his constitutional duties under Section 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution.
Justice Amadi urged members of the House of Assembly to recognise the legal constraints surrounding the matter and appealed for understanding.
He called on the lawmakers to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position” until the courts resolve the dispute.