An Oyigbo High Court of Rivers State sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned indefinitely the suit filed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, challenging the impeachment process initiated against them by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Justice Florence Fiberesima took the decision after being informed that two separate appeals had been entered in respect of the matter. The court held that the adjournment would allow the Court of Appeal to first determine the issues arising from the appeals.

At the resumed hearing, counsel to the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, and 27 lawmakers, S.I. Amen (SAN), informed the court of the pending appeals and applied orally for a stay of proceedings. The application was not opposed by counsel to the claimants, Paul Orikoro (SAN), nor by Lawrence Oko-Jaja (SAN), who represents Victor Oko-Jumbo, Orubienimigha Timothy and Sokari Goodboy, the other defendants in the suit.

Justice Fiberesima consequently adjourned the case sine die, pending the determination of the appeals.

The adjournment follows an earlier interim injunction granted by the same court, which restrained the Speaker, several lawmakers, the Clerk of the House and the Chief Judge of Rivers State from taking further steps toward the impeachment of the governor and his deputy. The injunction barred the forwarding or consideration of impeachment notices or related documents for the purpose of constituting an investigative panel over alleged gross misconduct.

Meanwhile, the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon C. Amadi, has declined a request by the House of Assembly to constitute a seven-man investigative panel to probe allegations of gross misconduct against the governor and his deputy, citing subsisting court orders and a pending appeal.

Justice Amadi’s position was conveyed in a letter addressed to Amaewhule, acknowledging receipt of two separate requests dated January 16, 2026, made pursuant to Sections 188(4) and 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The requests followed resolutions of the House to commence impeachment proceedings.

“By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal,” the letter stated in part. “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 Chief Judge disclosed that the Assembly’s requests were accompanied by extensive documentation, including copies of the notice of allegations of gross misconduct, the Rivers State Impeachment Panel (Conduct of Investigations) Procedure, 2025, and relevant newspaper publications. However, he noted that his office had earlier been served with two interim injunctions issued by the High Court sitting in Oyigbo on January 16, 2026.

The suits, OYHC/6/CS/2026 filed by the Deputy Governor and OYHC/7/CS/2026 filed by Governor Fubara, listed the Speaker and 32 others as defendants, with the Chief Judge named as the 32nd defendant. The interim orders expressly restrain the Chief Judge from “receiving, forwarding, considering or howsoever acting on any request, resolution, articles of impeachment or other communication” from the House of Assembly in relation to the impeachment process for seven days, pending further proceedings.