The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbass, has been asked to produce records of proceedings in the Green Chamber to show that a letter announcing 410 defection to All Progressives Congress, APC, and resignation as Minority Leader, was read on the floor of the House.
The request was made by the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners who recently filed a suit seeking an order of an Abuja Federal High Court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from recognizing Chinda as the governorship candidate of the APC.
Chinda, an ally of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike was elected the governorship candidate of the APC in the May 21, 2026 primary election, after the last-minute withdrawal of other contestants – incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Tonye Cole and Alabo Dakorinama George-Kelly.
But the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners whose members are indigenes of Chinda’s Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency of Rivers State dragged him before an Abuja Federal High Court to stop him from contesting the 2027 poll.
The plaintiff argued that the defection of the lawmaker was inconsistent with the provisions of Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and pronouncements of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the defection of legislators.
The plaintiff is asking the Speaker of the House of Representatives to present evidence that a letter notifying the House of the development was read on the floor during plenary to support his claim that Chinda’s defection was not in accordance with due process.
The request was made in a letter dated 26 May 2027 signed by Jesse Williams Amuga, Esq., Administrative Secretary, Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners.
The letter read: “Request made under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011: Request for Hansard and Votes of Proceedings and Order Paper for each day of plenary sessions of the House of Representatives, National Assembly, for the month of March and April, 2026 or any other date to ascertain if the records can confirm the date when the Rt. Hon. Speaker or any other presiding officer of the House of Representatives read the official letter of resignation of Hon. Kingsley Ogundu Chinda to confirm cessation of his membership of the PDP and also confirm his resignation as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, National Assembly.
“We write on behalf of some of the 500,000 registered constituents of Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency represented by Hon. Kingsley Ogundu Chinda.
“We write to request a formal letter of response to the above subject matter.
“This letter we are seeking is a condition precedent under Section 68 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 that we want to exhibit in a suit.
“We, the lawyers representing the constituents, had sent a letter earlier to express the intentions of the said constituents. Enclosed/attached is a copy of the said letter dated October 25, 2025, to the said legislator.”
A copy of the letter was sent to the Deputy Speaker and the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
In a statement after the suit against Chinda’s candidacy in the 2027 election, the Centre for Constitutional Governance and Electoral Integrity, CCGEI, said the Rivers lawmaker resigned as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives before joining the APC governorship race and had not been involved in any PDP-related activities since.
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