Drop Fubara’s impeachment or face lawsuit – Lawyers threaten Rivers CJ

The Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) has called on the Chief Judge of the High Court of Rivers State, Hon. Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, to immediately recuse himself from any impeachment proceedings or risk being reported to the National Judicial Council (NJC).

In an open letter dated January 18, 2026, and shared with The Nation, ALDRAP warned that should the Chief Judge entertain any impeachment notice from the Rivers State House of Assembly, the association would pursue legal action and file a formal petition before the NJC.

The Abuja-based legal body cited a March 2025 petition sent by the Rivers Assembly to the Department of State Security Services (DSS), alleging age falsification by the Chief Judge, as a potential source of bias.

Titled “Recuse Yourself Immediately From Considering Any Letter Of Notice Of Impeachment Submitted By The Rivers State House Of Assembly Or Face The National Judicial Council (NJC),” the letter was signed by Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, former Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Copyright Commission and Executive Director of the Nigerian Law Society.

He stated, “Your Lordship, Chief Judge of the High Court of Rivers State, Sir, I do not need any introduction because you already know me personally.

“Also, our Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners-ALDRAP does not require any introduction because you already know the work that we did for the Rivers State Judiciary in the year 2021 when we installed the JURISCRIPTA software for the judges of the Rivers State Customary Court of Appeal.

“You spoke about this during the ceremony for the opening of the 2022 legal year of the Rivers State Judiciary.

“We write this letter to respectfully inform you of our Association-ALDRAP’s firm resolve to commence both a lawsuit and a petition against you, if you consider any letter of impeachment submitted by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“The major reason is that you are in a position of conflict of interest, and there is a strong likelihood of bias if you are to consider any letter of impeachment by this particular 10th Assembly of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“The reason is that in March 2025, this same Rivers State House of Assembly authored and submitted a petition against your good self to the Department of State Security Services (DSS), stating that they have documentary evidence that you engaged in falsification of your age of retirement. This is reported online.

“In the light of the foregoing, the most noble and legitimate course of action is to recuse yourself and write to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to appoint a neutral Chief Judge of another State of Nigeria to overseer the panel to consider any purported letter of impeachment from the Rivers State House of Assembly,” the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) demanded.