The Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners have formally requested the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbass, to provide official records of proceedings from the Green Chamber.
This request aims to verify whether a letter declaring Kingsley Chinda’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his subsequent resignation as Minority Leader was ever officially read during a House plenary session.
The move follows a lawsuit filed by the group in an Abuja Federal High Court, which seeks to bar the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing Chinda as the APC governorship candidate.
Chinda, a known ally of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike, secured the APC governorship ticket during the primary election held on May 21, 2026, after the eleventh-hour withdrawal of rival contenders: incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Tonye Cole, and Alabo Dakorinama George-Kelly.
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However, the plaintiff—comprising members who are indigenes of Chinda’s Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in Rivers State—is challenging his eligibility for the 2027 polls.
They argue that the lawmaker’s defection violates Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well as established Supreme Court rulings regarding legislative defections.
To demonstrate that Chinda’s party switch bypassed proper legal channels, the group demands proof from the Speaker that the notification letter was read on the floor of the House.
This demand was issued in a letter dated May 26, 2027, signed by Jesse Williams Amuga, Esq., the Administrative Secretary of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners.
The letter read:“Request brought pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 2011: Request for the Hansard and Votes of Proceedings and Order Paper of each day of plenary sessions of the House of Representatives, National Assembly, during the month of March and April, 2026, or any other date to ascertain whether the records can confirm the date on which 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 to 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, currently represented by Hon. Kingsley Ogundu Chinda.
“We write to request a formal letter of response to the above-named subject-matter.
“This letter that we are requesting is a condition precedent under Section 68 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 which we seek to tender as Exhibit in a lawsuit.
“We, as lawyers representing the constituents, previously wrote a letter expressing the intentions of the said constituents. A copy of the said letter dated October 2025, to the said legislator, is enclosed/attached.”
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The letter was also copied to the Deputy Speaker and the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
In response to the legal challenge against Chinda’s 2027 candidacy, the Centre for Constitutional Governance and Electoral Integrity (CCGEI) issued a statement defending the Rivers lawmaker. The group asserted that Chinda had formally stepped down from his role as Minority Leader prior to entering the APC governorship primary and has completely ceased participation in all People’s Democratic Party (PDP) activities since that period.
