The Rivers State House of Assembly has asked the Chief Judge of the state, Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi, to set up a panel to investigate the gross misconduct allegations against Governor Fubara and his deputy, Ngọzi Odu.
The assembly made the request in two separate letters to the chief judge, signed by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule.
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PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the assembly, on Friday, passed a resolution requesting the chief judge to set up the investigative panel as part of the impeachment process against the governor and his deputy.
Setting up the panel
“I write to request that you appoint a panel of seven persons to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct against His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the Governor of Rivers State, pursuant to section 188(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended),” Mr Amaewhule stated in the first letter dated 16 January 2026.
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The speaker told the chief judge that he attached to the letter an acknowledged copy of the notice of alleged gross misconduct against the governor.
He said he had attached to the letter copies of the Rivers State Impeachment Panel (Conduct of Investigations) Procedure, 2025, and newspaper publications regarding the impeachment notice.
In the second letter, also dated 16 January, Mr Amaewhule requested that the chief judge establish another panel of seven to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the Deputy Governor, Mrs Odu, a professor.
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“On the 60th legislative day of the third session of the 10th Assembly, the House resolved in compliance with section 188(4) of the Constitution that these allegations be investigated,” he stated.
The speaker told the chief judge that he had attached to the letter an acknowledged copy of the notice of alleged gross misconduct against the deputy governor
He added that he had also attached to the letter copies of the Rivers State Impeachment Panel (Conduct of Investigations) Procedure, 2025, and newspaper publications about the impeachment notice against her.
Background
On 8 January, Rivers House of Assembly began impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara and his Deputy, Mrs Odu, over alleged gross misconduct.
This is the third attempt by the lawmakers to impeach the Rivers governor since he was elected into office in 2023.
The impeachment move came shortly after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, accused the governor of reneging on the terms of a peace deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu in June last year.
A faction of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers, which supports Mr Fubara, immediately rejected the impeachment plot against the governor, calling for a political resolution of the crisis.
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The call appeared to have yielded results when four lawmakers withdrew from the impeachment move.
The assembly failed to reconvene on 15 January. This fuelled speculations that the lawmakers may drop the impeachment move.
But on 16 January, the lawmakers announced that the impeachment process would proceed as planned. Even the four lawmakers who earlier withdrew their support for the impeachment move have again declared their support for it.
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