The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, has declined to establish a judicial panel to investigate Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, citing existing court orders.
The Rivers State House of Assembly had requested that Amadi set up a seven-member panel to probe the duo over allegations of gross misconduct.
In a letter dated January 20, 2026, addressed to Speaker Martins Amaewhule, the chief judge explained that two court orders, served on his office on January 16, 2026, bar him from receiving, forwarding, or considering any such request.
Justice Amadi emphasised that constitutionalism and the rule of law demand obedience to subsisting court orders, regardless of personal opinions on their validity. He referenced a 2007 case in Kwara State, where the Chief Judge was condemned for ignoring a restraining court order while setting up an investigative panel—a decision later voided by the Court of Appeal.
The chief judge also noted that the Speaker has filed an appeal against the court orders at the Court of Appeal, further complicating the legal proceedings. “By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal,” he said.
He added that the injunctions and pending appeal 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 wrote.
Justice Amadi appealed to the state assembly to recognise the legal constraints surrounding the matter, urging lawmakers to “be magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”
