Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, has declined to set up a judicial panel to investigate Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, citing court orders and an appeal.
The Rivers State House of Assembly had requested that Amadi set up a seven-member panel to probe Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, over allegations of gross misconduct.
But, in a letter dated January 20 and addressed to the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, the chief judge cited two court orders barring him from receiving, forwarding, or considering any requests to form such a judicial panel.
The judge stated that the orders were served on his office on January 16, 2026 and remain in force.
The chief judge emphasised that constitutionalism and the rule of law require all authorities to obey subsisting court orders, irrespective of their perception of the orders’ validity.
He referenced legal precedents, noting that in a similar case in 2007, the Chief Judge of Kwara State was condemned for ignoring a restraining court order when setting up an investigative panel, a decision later voided by the Court of Appeal.
Justice Amadi further observed that the Speaker has already filed an appeal against the court orders at the Court of Appeal, adding another layer to the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the allegations.
He said: “By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal.”
The chief judge further stated that the existence of the injunctions and the pending appeal had effectively tied his hands.
“In view of 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,” he said.
Justice Amadi appealed to the lawmakers to recognise the legal constraints surrounding the matter.
He, therefore, urged the state assembly to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”