Rivers high court temporarily stops Governor Fubara?s impeachment

 

 

Rivers High Court in Oyigbo Local Government Area has intervened in the deepening political crisis in the state by issuing an interim injunction that temporarily halts further action on the impeachment process against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Nma-Odu.

 

 

In a ruling delivered in Port Harcourt, the court restrained the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, alongside thirty-two others, including the Clerk of the House and the Chief Judge of Rivers State, from taking steps aimed at advancing the impeachment proceedings.

 

 

 

The order specifically barred the Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi, from receiving, forwarding, considering, or acting on any request, resolution, or impeachment-related document from the Assembly for the purpose of constituting an investigative panel, pending the determination of the matter. The injunction is to last for seven days.

 

 

The order was granted by Justice Florence Fiberesima following the hearing of two separate motions ex parte filed by Governor Fubara and his deputy. In the suits—marked OYHC/7/CS/2026 and OYHC/6/CS/2026—the court also granted leave for the interim orders and originating processes to be served on the first to thirty-first defendants by pasting them at the gate of the Rivers State Assembly quarters.

 

 

 

The court further directed that the Chief Judge, listed as the thirty-second defendant, be served through any staff member of the judiciary at his chambers within the premises.

 

 

 

Justice Fiberesima adjourned the matter to January 23, 2026, for the hearing of the motion on notice, shifting the impeachment fight from political maneuvering to courtroom litigation.

 

 

On Friday, January 16, the Rivers State House of Assembly had called on the Chief Judge to set up a panel to investigate alleged gross misconduct against Governor Fubara and his deputy, with lawmakers vowing to continue with the impeachment process.

 

 

 

During a press briefing in Port Harcourt, the lawmakers accused the governor of allegedly using blackmail and claimed he had violated the 1999 Constitution. Addressing journalists, the deputy speaker, Dumle Maol, said Fubara lacked the trust needed to resolve the crisis in the state.

 

 

They insisted the Assembly had been left with no choice but to invoke its legislative powers, accusing both Fubara and Odu of intimidating the parliament. The lawmakers nonetheless thanked President Bola Tinubu for intervening in the crisis and called on Speaker Martin Amaewhule to reconvene the House.

 

 

Their stance comes weeks after the impeachment process was initiated against Fubara and Odu, a move that has intensified political tension across the oil-rich state.