The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Chibuzor Simeon Amadi, has declined to set up a seven-member panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his Deputy, Ngozi Ordu.
Justice Amadi conveyed his decision in a letter dated January 20, 2026, addressed to the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule. In the letter, the Chief Judge cited two subsisting court orders restraining him from receiving, forwarding, or acting on any request to constitute such a panel.
According to him, the court orders were served on his office on January 16, 2026, and remain valid and binding.
The Chief Judge stressed that constitutionalism and the rule of law demand strict obedience to court orders by all authorities, regardless of any personal views about the correctness or otherwise of such orders.
Justice Amadi also referred to judicial precedents, recalling a similar incident in 2007 when the Chief Judge of Kwara State was criticised for disregarding a restraining court order to constitute an investigative panel. That action, he noted, was subsequently nullified by the Court of Appeal.
He further observed that the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly has already lodged an appeal against the restraining court orders at the Court of Appeal, thereby deepening the legal processes surrounding the allegations.
The development adds another dimension to the ongoing political and legal crisis in Rivers State over the impeachment moves against Governor Fubara and his deputy.
