The Rivers State High Court, has faulted a news report claiming that Governor Siminalayi Fubara had secured a court order directing the Sole Administrator of the state to vacate the Government House, hence reinstating him to his office.
The viral report identified Hon. Justice Boma Diepriye as the judge that issued the purported order.
But, a statement signed by the Chief Registrar of the court, David Ihua-Maduenyi, clarified that Hon. Justice Boma Diepiri, whose name was likely confused with the one mentioned in the report, is a judge of the Rivers State High Court, not the Federal High Court.
He further disclosed that Justice Boma Diepiri is currently on Easter vacation, which commenced on April 14, 2025, adding that only designated vacation judges sit during this period.
He emphasized that no State High Court has issued any orders related to the subject matter of the news report.
He advised the public to seek clarification on any news reports concerning the court and its officials before publication, urging the public to disregard the false and misleading publication.
The statement reads:”My attention has been drawn to an online news report with the caption “BREAKING NEWS: Governor Sim Fubara secures Court victory over Wike and Tinubu -Federal High Court Orders Sole Administrator to vacate Government House”, authored by one Joy Musa published by 247 ureports on Tuesday, 15th April, 2025.
“Ordinarily, I would not have bothered myself with any refutal, but for the mischievous mention of the name of Hon. Justice Boma Diepriye which appears synonymous with Hon. Justice Boma Diepiri of the Rivers State High Court in paragraph 4 of the report thus:
“Justice Boma Diepriye, who presided over the case, ruled that the appointment of a sole administrator to oversee the affairs of a state with a sitting, democratically elected governor is “illegal, null and void…”
“In view of the above, I wish to state as follows:Hon. Justice Boma Diepiri is not a Judge of the Federal High Court but a Judge of the Rivers State High Court, and is on Easter Vacation, which commenced on Monday, 14th April, 2025.
“For the period of the Easter Vacation, only the vacation Judge is sitting; and Hon. Justice Boma Diepiri is not the Vacation Judge.
“The mention of the name of Hon. Justice Boma Diepriye which is similar with Hon. Justice Boma Diepiri of the Rivers State High Court is not only false, but and clearly exposes the crass ignorance of the reporter; as the Federal High Court is different from Rivers State High Court.
“No State High Court gave any order(s) relating to or concerning the subject matter as captioned in the online news.
“It is regrettable that some bloggers and online news reporters have traded professionalism on the altar of pecuniary gains they seek to derive from traffic on their social media handle and web pages.
“Henceforth, the Judiciary enjoins the general public to seek clarification on any news report concerning the Court and official of the court before publication.”
