POLITICS
Chinda’s APC Candidacy Faces Constitutional Storm Over Defection
Chinda’s APC Candidacy Faces Constitutional Storm Over Defection
A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has fixed November 4, 2026, for a hearing in a suit challenging the nomination of House of Representatives Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2027 Rivers State election.
The plaintiff, Samuel Amatonjie, is asking the court to determine whether Chinda had validly completed his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC before participating in the party’s governorship screening on May 9 and primary election on May 21, 2026.
Amatonjie’s challenge is anchored on Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, with the plaintiff arguing that Chinda’s defection letter was not formally read on the floor of the House of Representatives until June 2, 2026, after the APC screening and primary had taken place.
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Chinda’s legal team and other defendants have opposed the challenge, leaving the court to determine whether the timing and circumstances of his defection affected his eligibility to participate in the APC primary and whether the reliefs sought could affect his candidacy for the 2027 Rivers governorship election.
September 30, () – A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has adjourned until November 4, 2026, for a hearing in a suit challenging the nomination of the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 Rivers State election.
The suit, marked FHC/PH/CS/3/2026, was instituted by Samuel Amatonjie against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chinda, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the APC, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Clerk to the National Assembly.
The case centres on whether Chinda validly defected from the PDP to the APC in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, before taking part in the APC governorship screening and primary that produced him as the party’s candidate.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Amatonjie told the court that he was served with processes filed by some of the defendants on September 28 and requested additional time to study the documents and respond to them.
After hearing the parties, the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Turaki, adjourned the matter to November 4, 2026, for hearing.
Speaking with journalists after the proceedings, Amatonjie said the suit was instituted as a public interest litigation seeking an interpretation of Section 68 of the Constitution concerning defection by a member of the National Assembly.
According to him, the central issue before the court is whether Chinda’s defection from the PDP to the APC had been completed by May 9, 2026, when he was screened for the APC governorship primary, and May 21, 2026, when he emerged as the party’s governorship candidate.
Amatonjie argued that Chinda’s resignation and defection letter was formally read on the floor of the House of Representatives by the Speaker on June 2, 2026, after both the screening and primary had taken place.
He wants the court to determine whether Chinda was constitutionally entitled to participate in the APC screening and primary before the formal reading of his defection and resignation letter.
Amatonjie, however, stressed that he was not asking the court to determine whether Chinda generally had the right to contest the Rivers governorship election.
“I am not saying he does not have the right to contest the position of governor in Rivers State. What I am saying, by virtue of the said provision of the Constitution, Section 68, is whether, as at the material time he picked that ticket, his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress had crystallised”, he said.
Plaintiff Seeks Cancellation Of APC Ticket
Among the reliefs sought by the plaintiff is a declaration that the constitutional requirements governing defection by a member of the National Assembly must be complied with before such a person can validly participate in another political party’s governorship primary.
He is also asking the court to declare that INEC cannot validly recognise or publish Chinda as the APC governorship candidate if it finds that he had not validly defected from the PDP before participating in the APC screening and primary.
The plaintiff further wants the court to disqualify Chinda from the 2027 Rivers State governorship election if the reliefs sought are granted.
The challenge therefore places the timing of Chinda’s movement to the APC at the centre of the legal dispute, with the court expected to determine the constitutional effect, if any, of the sequence of events surrounding his defection and emergence as the APC candidate.
Chinda, who represents Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency of Rivers State in the House of Representatives, was elected on the platform of the PDP and became Minority Leader of the House. His subsequent movement to the APC and emergence as the party’s governorship candidate has added another legal dimension to the contest for Rivers State ahead of the 2027 election.
The suit brings into focus Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for circumstances under which a member of the National Assembly may lose his seat upon defecting from the political party on whose platform he was elected, subject to constitutionally recognised exceptions.
The plaintiff’s case seeks to connect those constitutional provisions to Chinda’s participation in the APC governorship process, particularly the timing of his screening and emergence as the party’s candidate in relation to the formal notification of his defection in the House.
Defendants Challenge Suit
Counsel to the PDP, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Paul Daudu, confirmed that the matter was adjourned because the plaintiff required time to respond to processes filed by the defendants.
“It was slated for hearing, but the plaintiff asked for adjournment because he needed to respond to the processes filed by the first, second and third defendants. That is essentially what happened”, Daudu stated.
Daudu described the case as a challenge to the APC’s nomination of Chinda, adding that the plaintiff argued Chinda did not resign as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives at the appropriate time.
“He is saying that he is not qualified to contest. We believe otherwise. It’s left for the court to decide”, he added.
Counsel to Chinda, Dike Udenna, also confirmed the adjournment, explaining that the plaintiff had requested time to respond to preliminary objections and counter-affidavits filed by the defendants.
He said the matter had consequently been adjourned to November 4, 2026, for hearing.