By Ayomide Otitoju
A Rivers State High Court in Oyigbo has intervened in the escalating political crisis in the state, issuing a seven-day interim injunction to temporarily halt the impeachment process against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Nma-Odu.
In a ruling delivered in Port Harcourt, Justice Florence Fiberesima restrained the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, and 32 other defendants—including the Clerk of the House and the Chief Judge of Rivers State—from taking any steps to advance the impeachment. The order specifically bars Chief Judge Justice Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi from receiving, forwarding, considering, or acting on any impeachment-related documents or requests from the Assembly to constitute an investigative panel, pending further determination.
The injunction follows ex parte motions filed separately by Governor Fubara and his deputy, marked OYHC/7/CS/2026 and OYHC/6/CS/2026. The court permitted service of the order on the defendants by posting it at the Assembly premises and through judicial staff to the Chief Judge. The case has been adjourned to January 23, 2026, for the hearing of the motion on notice, signaling a shift of the political dispute from the legislature to the courtroom.
The development comes after the Rivers State House of Assembly, on Friday, voted unanimously to urge the Chief Judge to set up a panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against Fubara and Odu. The lawmakers accused the governor of blackmail, breaching the 1999 Constitution, and undermining public trust, insisting that impeachment was their legislative recourse.
Deputy Speaker Dumle Maol told journalists that the governor’s actions left the Assembly with no choice but to exercise its constitutional powers. The move has further intensified political tensions in the oil-rich state, weeks after the impeachment process was first initiated.
President Tinubu, flanked by Governor Fubara and FCT Minister Wike, met with Rivers Assembly lawmakers at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on June 26, 2025, highlighting the high-profile nature of the state’s political dynamics.
The injunction temporarily stalls the Assembly’s efforts, but the legal and political battle over Governor Fubara’s leadership remains unresolved.
