Court puts Fubara's impeachment suit on hold as parties head to appeal court

A Rivers State High Court in Oyigbo Local Government Area has halted proceedings in the impeachment suit filed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, effectively shifting the battleground to the Court of Appeal.

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Justice Florence Fiberesima on Friday adjourned the matter indefinitely after parties informed the court that two separate appeals had been entered in respect of the case, Channels TV reported.

The judge held that the appellate court must first determine the issues before taking further steps.

The suit challenges the impeachment process initiated by the Rivers State House of Assembly, following the service of impeachment notices on the governor and his deputy.

At the resumed hearing, counsel to the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, and 27 lawmakers, S. I. Amen (SAN), told the court that appeals were pending and orally applied for a stay of proceedings. The application was not opposed by Paul Orikoro (SAN), counsel to the claimants, nor by Lawrence Oko-Jaja (SAN), who represents other defendants in the suit.

Justice Fiberesima consequently adjourned the case indefinitely, pending the outcome of the appeals.

Impeachment process stalled

The adjournment deepens the legal freeze on the impeachment process, which had already been slowed by an interim injunction issued by the same Rivers High Court in Oyigbo.

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That order restrained the speaker, several lawmakers, the clerk of the House, and the chief judge of Rivers from taking further steps towards impeaching the governor and his deputy.

The injunction specifically barred the forwarding or consideration of impeachment notices or related documents intended to constitute an investigative panel on allegations of gross misconduct.

Chief Judge declines Assembly’s request

Against this backdrop, the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Simeon Amadi, formally declined the Assembly’s request to constitute a seven-man investigative panel.

In a letter addressed to the speaker, Justice Amadi cited subsisting court orders and the pending appeal.

“By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal,” the letter read.

“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.”

The letter acknowledged receipt of two requests dated 16 January 2026, made pursuant to Sections 188(4) and 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), alongside documents including notices of allegations, procedural guidelines, and newspaper publications.

Mr Amadi disclosed that his office had been served with interim injunctions issued on the same day by the Oyigbo High Court in suits filed separately by the governor and his deputy. The orders expressly restrained him from “receiving, forwarding, considering or howsoever acting on any request, resolution, articles of impeachment or other communication” from the Assembly relating to the impeachment process.

With the High Court stepping aside and the Chief Judge invoking judicial restraint, the impeachment push now waits on the Court of Appeal—leaving Rivers State’s political crisis suspended, but far from resolved.