Court restrains Rivers chief judge from dealing with Amaewhule, others

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has issued an ex-parte order restraining the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Simone Chibuzor-Amadi, and the Clerk of the Rivers State House of Assembly from having any dealings with factional Speaker of the Rivers State House Assembly, Martins Amaewhule and twenty-six other lawmakers who defected to another political party.

The presiding judge, Justice Jumbo Stephen, in his ruling on the ex-parte application on Monday, brought by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, and Rivers State Governor, restrained the chief judge and clerk from receiving or forwarding any resolution, articles of impeachment, or other documents from Amaewhule and the others.

The court also directed all parties in the suit to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction already filed.

Justice Stephen further ordered substituted service of the originating and other processes in the suit on the 1st to 30th defendants by pasting the same at the gate of the Rivers State House of Assembly Quarters, opposite the former Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC headquarters, off Aba Road, Port Harcourt.

Justice Jumbo Stephen adjourned the case to July 15, 2024, for the hearing of the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.