Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s legal maneuver halts Rivers State impeachment, blocking the Assembly’s timeline and forcing the conflict into the Court of Appeal.
Sunday, January 25, 2026 | Enugu
A carefully sequenced plan to impeach Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy, Professor Ngozi Nma Odu, before the end of the first quarter of 2026 has suffered a major setback, following a swift and unexpected legal manoeuvre that effectively froze the Rivers State Impeachment process.
The strategy, allegedly mapped out by Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, and 26 lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, was said to include a rapid chain of leadership changes: Amaewhule’s immediate swearing-in as governor, the election of Hon. Major Jack as Speaker and his elevation to deputy governor within a week, and the subsequent emergence of Hon. Dumle Maol of Gokana Constituency as Speaker. From all indications, that first-quarter timeline has now been quashed.
In what observers describe as a high-stakes chess match – Rivers State Impeachment, the pro-impeachment lawmakers believed they had outmanoeuvred Governor Fubara on January 16, 2026, when the Assembly, in a session broadcast live nationwide, passed a resolution directing the Chief Judge of Rivers State to constitute a seven-man investigative panel in line with Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution.
Unbeknownst to the lawmakers, however, thrre was a parallel legal drama that was unfolding quietly at the Rivers State High Court sitting in Oyigbo Local Government Area to “throw a spanner” in the Rivers State Impeachment process. Rather than challenge the impeachment move from the heavily monitored Port Harcourt judicial division, Fubara’s legal team filed two separate suits–OYHC/6/CS/2026 and OYHC/7/CS/2026–in Oyigbo, catching the Assembly off guard.
Court records show that the suits were filed at about 11:06 a.m., assigned by 12:06 p.m., and by early afternoon, Justice F.A. Fiberesima had granted interim orders restraining further impeachment steps. This was happening almost simultaneously as Speaker Amaewhule was drafting his formal letter to the Chief Judge requesting the constitution of the probe panel for the Rivers State Impeachment.
By the time the Speaker’s emissaries arrived at the office of the Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, with the impeachment notice, court bailiffs had already served him with the restraining order. The legal ambush effectively neutralised the Assembly’s next move.
A critical twist in the Governor’s strategy was the decision to name the Chief Judge himself as the 32nd defendant in the suit. This move proved decisive. While Section 188(5) of the Constitution provides that the Chief Judge “shall” appoint a panel upon receipt of the Speaker’s request, the CJ held that acting in the face of a subsisting court order would amount to contempt.
In a letter to Speaker Amaewhule, Justice Amadi stated, in part, “My hand is fettered… I am therefore legally disabled at this point from exercising my duties.” The Speaker’s camp had assumed that Section 188(10), which ousts judicial interference in impeachment proceedings, would automatically override any such legal obstacles. That assumption failed.
Legal sources note that by making the Chief Judge a party to the suit, Governor Fubara placed him in an impossible position, recalling the 2007 Kwara State precedent where a Chief Judge was sanctioned for disregarding court orders in similar circumstances.
The development has triggered serious procedural consequences. Constitutional timelines governing impeachment are now effectively suspended. The seven-day window within which the Chief Judge is expected to act under Section 188(5) has lapsed while the restraining order remains in force.
Compounding the Assembly’s difficulties is the invocation of the doctrine of lis pendens by the Chief Judge. With Speaker Amaewhule already approaching the Court of Appeal to vacate the interim order, Justice Amadi held that the matter has become sub judice, thereby freezing all related legislative actions until the appellate court decides otherwise.
The Governor also secured an order for substituted service, ensuring that lawmakers cannot plead ignorance of the court’s decision in the Rivers State Impeachment. Bailiffs reportedly pasted the injunction on the gates of the Assembly Quarters, exposing any lawmaker who proceeds with the impeachment to potential legal liability.
Analysts argue that Speaker Amaewhule’s biggest miscalculation was treating the impeachment as a purely political contest. By shifting the battle to the Court of Appeal, the Assembly may have inadvertently handed Governor Fubara a significant advantage, as appellate litigation in Nigeria rarely moves at the pace required for a swift impeachment.
For now, the Rivers State Impeachment theatre of confrontation has shifted from the chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the Government House to the Court of Appeal. The next decisive move will depend on the outcome of the appellate process.
Amid the unfolding legal drama surrounding the Rivers State Impeachment , Governor Fubara struck a note of confidence at the recently concluded Nigerian Ports Authority Port Harcourt International Polo Tournament, where he attended as Special Guest of Honour. “Amidst all the noise and the love letter I was served,” he quipped, “I am still the Governor of Rivers State.”
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