IMPEACHMENT SETBACK: RIVERS CHIEF JUDGE REJECTS ASSEMBLY REQUEST TO APPOINT SEVEN-MAN PANEL

The Chief Judge of Rivers State confirmed receipt of two letters from the Rivers State House of Assembly requesting the appointment of a seven-man investigative panel to probe allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara, as well as a similar request concerning the Deputy Governor.

However, the Chief Judge stated that he is legally restrained from acting on the request due to subsisting interim injunctions issued by the High Court on 16 January 2026 in two separate suits filed by the Governor and the Deputy Governor.

The court orders expressly bar the Chief Judge from receiving, processing, considering, or acting on any impeachment-related request or communication from the House of Assembly pending further determination of the cases.

The letter notes that the Chief Judge is listed as the 32nd defendant in the suits and that the interim court orders were duly served on his office the same day they were issued.

Emphasizing the supremacy of constitutionalism and the rule of law, the Chief Judge stressed that all authorities are bound to obey court orders until they are set aside. He cited judicial precedent, including a Court of Appeal decision that strongly condemned a Chief Judge who ignored a subsisting court order in an impeachment process.

Consequently, the Chief Judge declined to constitute the impeachment panel, stating that doing so would amount to a violation of a valid court order and established legal principles.

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