A Rivers State High Court sitting in Oyigbo, Port Harcourt, on Friday adjourned indefinitely the suit filed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Professor Ngozi Nma-Odu, challenging the impeachment proceedings initiated against them by the State House of Assembly.
The court, presided over by Justice Florence Fiberesima, adjourned the matter sine die after confirming that two separate appeals had already been entered in connection with the case. The judge said the adjournment was necessary to allow the Court of Appeal to first determine the pending appeals before the trial court could take further steps on the substantive suit.
Justice Fiberesima held that once an appeal is properly entered, a lower court must exercise restraint to avoid actions that could conflict with the jurisdiction of the appellate court, adding that proceeding with the case could amount to judicial impropriety.
Governor Fubara and his deputy had approached the court to contest what they described as unconstitutional and politically motivated impeachment proceedings allegedly being pursued by the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, 26 lawmakers loyal to him, and the Clerk of the House.
The adjournment effectively places the impeachment litigation on hold, further prolonging the political standoff between the executive arm of government and a faction of the legislature loyal to the immediate past governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The same Oyigbo High Court had earlier issued an interim injunction restraining the Speaker, 32 other defendants—including the Clerk of the House and the Chief Judge of Rivers State—from taking further steps in the impeachment process.
In that ruling, the court barred the Speaker and lawmakers from forwarding any articles of impeachment, resolutions, or related documents to the Chief Judge for the purpose of setting up a panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the governor and his deputy.
The interim order also restrained the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, from receiving or acting on any impeachment-related communication from the defendants for a period of seven days, pending further hearing.
