A Rivers State High Court sitting in Oyigbo Local Government Area, Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State in southern Nigeria, has issued an interim injunction stopping moves connected to the impeachment of the state’s governor and deputy.
In the ruling delivered on Friday, January 16, 2026, the court restrained the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, alongside two other officials, including the Clerk of the House, from sending any form of correspondence to the Chief Judge of Rivers State concerning impeachment proceedings.
The court also barred the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, from receiving, forwarding, considering, or acting on any request, resolution, articles of impeachment, or related documents aimed at constituting a panel to investigate allegations of misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy for a period of seven days.
The presiding judge, Justice F. A. Fiberesima, issued the order while ruling on a motion filed ex parte in two separate suits instituted by Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Professor Ngozi Odu. The suits were marked as Suit Number OYHC/7CS/2026 and Suit Number OYHC/6/CS/2026.
Justice Fiberesima further granted permission to the claimants to serve the interim order, along with the originating processes and all subsequent court documents, on the first to the thirty first defendants by pasting them at the gate of the Rivers State House of Assembly residential quarters.
In addition, the court directed that the originating processes and interim orders be served on the thirty second defendant, identified as the Chief Judge of Rivers State, through any judicial staff at the Chief Judge’s chambers within the High Court complex.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter to Thursday, January 23, 2026, for the hearing of the substantive motion brought before the court.
Okay News reports that despite the court’s interim injunction, the Rivers State House of Assembly resolved on the same Friday to continue with impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara and his deputy.
It was also gathered that four lawmakers who had earlier withdrawn their support for the impeachment process and urged their colleagues to abandon the move reversed their stance. The lawmakers accused Governor Fubara of being adamant, a development that further heightened political tension within the state legislature.
