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 said his decision was based on existing court orders restraining him from taking any step towards setting up such a panel.
In a letter dated January 20, 2026, and addressed to the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, the chief judge explained that his office had been served with two interim court orders on January 16, 2026, which remain in force.
According to him, the orders expressly bar him from receiving, processing, or acting on any request to constitute a panel of inquiry in relation to the allegations against the governor and his deputy.
“Constitutionalism and the rule of law demand strict obedience to subsisting court orders, regardless of any personal or institutional opinion about their correctness,” Justice Amadi stated.
He recalled that the judiciary had previously frowned at similar actions taken in defiance of court orders, citing a 2007 case in which the Chief Judge of Kwara State was criticised for setting up an investigative panel despite a restraining order—a move later nullified by the Court of Appeal.
Justice Amadi also noted that the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly has already appealed the interim orders at the Court of Appeal, a development he said further complicates the matter.
“By the doctrine of lis pendens, parties and the court are required to await the outcome of the appeal,” he said.
The chief judge stressed that the combination of the existing injunctions and the pending appeal had left him without the legal authority to act.
“In view of the foregoing, my hand is 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 this instance,” he added.
Justice Amadi appealed to the lawmakers to acknowledge the legal constraints surrounding the issue, urging them to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”
The Rivers State House of Assembly had earlier asked the chief judge to set up a seven-member panel as part of steps to investigate the governor and his deputy, a move that has since become the subject of multiple legal proceedings.
