The Rivers State House of Assembly has moved ahead with **plans to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, by asking the **Chief Judge to set up an investigative panel, even as a local court has issued a temporary order blocking part of the process, sources say.
On Friday, January 16, 2026, lawmakers passed a resolution at plenary asking the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, to appoint a seven-member panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against Fubara and Odu under Section 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The request was formalised in letters signed by Speaker Martins Amaewhule and sent to the judiciary.
The allegations include claims of unauthorised public spending, failure to present the state budget to the legislature, withholding statutory funds from the Assembly, and other acts lawmakers describe as breaches of constitutional duties, according to the resolution passed at the session.
However, a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt issued an interim order stopping the Chief Judge from receiving or taking any action on impeachment-related communications from the House for seven days.
The judge, Justice F. A. Fiberesima, granted the injunction after separate suit filings by Fubara and Odu, restraining the Speaker, Clerk of the House and other officials from proceeding with steps to form the panel.
The court’s decision is intended to preserve the status quo while the substantive motions in the suits filed by the governor and his deputy are heard. Justice Fiberesima also granted leave for the interim order to be served on the defendants near the Assembly and at the judiciary premises.
Despite the restraining order, the House maintained that the letters requesting the investigative panel were sent and acknowledged by the Chief Judge, according to a statement from a senior Assembly official. Lawmakers stressed that they acted under constitutional provisions and urged citizens to trust the legislative process.
The impeachment effort reflects a wider political crisis in Rivers State, marked by deep divisions between the governor, lawmakers and political supporters of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Some lawmakers have alleged that Fubara tried to influence constituents to recall legislators rather than pursue peace talks, a charge the governor’s camp has denied.
Political observers say the competing moves by the legislature and the judiciary illustrate the complex legal and political battle unfolding in Rivers State, with implications for governance and constitutional balance ahead of further court hearings scheduled later this month.
