ALDRAP Urges Court to Intervene and Stop Fubara's Impeachment in Rivers Assembly

A Rivers State High Court has been asked to issue an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the Rivers State House of Assembly from taking further steps in the impeachment process commenced against Governor Sim Fubara.

The Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, is seeking the order in a suit numbered RHC/427/CS/2026, filed on February 10, 2026 by their lawyer, S. O Abang, Esg.

The Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Rivers State, Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Clerk of the Assembly, Victor Oko-Jumbo, member representing Bonny State Constituency, Adolphus Timothy, representing Opobo/Nkoro State Constituency, Chief Judge of Rivers State, Director General of the DSS, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were listed as the respondents in the suit.

Besides seeking an order restraining the House from proceeding with the impeachment process, the court was also asked to issue an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the Chief Judge of Rivers State from constituting or inaugurating any impeachment panel pursuant to the “defective” impeachment notice dated 8th January 2026, pending the determination of the suit.

The plaintiff equally asked the court to stop the respondents from interfering with the constitutional functions of the governor.

In the same vein, the court was asked to issue an order of mandamus compelling the 4th and 5th respondents (Victor Oko-Jumbo and Adolphus Timothy) to initiate impeachment proceedings against the Speaker of the Assembly for violation of Section 188 of the Constitution.

ALDRAP, in the same vein, prayed the court to order the DSS to investigate the Speaker, Martins Amaehule, and 25 other lawmakers for illegally using the threat of impeachment to cause breach of national security.

Also, the Rivers High Court was asked to issue an order of interlocutory injunction restraining INEC from recognizing Napoleon Ukalikpe and Mrs Bulabari Henrietta as All Progressives Congress, APC, candidates in the forthcoming bye-elections in Rivers State, pending the determination of the suit.

Stating grounds for the suit, the plaintiff said the impeachment notice against Fubara was incurably defective and unconstitutional, adding that it was based on allegations already adjudicated upon, and therefore amounting to double jeopardy.

ALDRAP added that the impeachment notice failed to disclose particulars of misconduct, and as such, it is better to preserve constitutional governance and prevent irreparable damage to the office of the governor.

In an affidavitt in support of the interlocutory motion on notice, Administrative Secretary of ALDRAP, Jesse James Amuga, declared that the impeachment notice served on Fubara was incurably defective, constitutionally and fundamentally flawed in several respects, including failure to state particulars of alleged misconduct and reliance on matters already decided upon by the Supreme Court, as well as misdescription of governor.

“The impeachment proceedings, if allowed to continue, will cause irreparable harm to constitutional governance in Rivers State. The governor may be unlawfully removed from office, thereby destabilising the polity and depriving the people of Rivers State of their duly elected leader,” the affidavit added.

In its originating summons, the plaintiff listed eight questions for determination by the court, including whether the eight allegations contained in the notice of impeachment against Fubara satisfy the constitutional threshold of “gross misconduct” as defined under Section 188(11) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The court was also asked to determine whether the misdescription of Fubara as “madam” in the impeachment notice was not a fundamental defect capable of vitiating the entire process.

The plaintiff equally asked the court to determine whether the Speaker and 25 members of the Assembly, who are currently subject of recall proceedings, retain the locus standi to commence or retain impeachment proceedings.

In the same vein, the court was asked to determine whether the failure of the lawmakers – being members of the same political party as the governor – to exhaust party dispute resolution mechanisms, does not render the impeachment proceedings premature and unconstitutional.

Reliefs sought by the plaintiff include a declaration that the notice of impeachment does not disclose any allegation amounting to gross misconduct within the meaning of Section 188(11) of the Constitution, and a declaration that the impeachment process is unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

The court was equally asked to issue an order setting aside and quashing the impeachment notice, as well as an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Assembly and other respondents from taking any further steps in furtherance of the said impeachment process.

The plaintiff in the same vein asked the court to issue an order of mandamus compelling the Governor and the Attorney General of the state to publish in the gazzete of Rivers State that Speaker of the Assembly, Amaehule, has been banned from contesting or holding any public office in the state for 10 years in line with judicial precedent affirming similar bans.

The court was also asked to declare the seat of the Speaker vacant due to his recall process, which started in March 2025.

The suit is yet to be assigned a date for hearing.