Rivers APC Gov. Candidate, Chinda, Faces Legal Hurdle To Stop Him

By Ayodele Oni

Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners has filed a suit to stop Chinda, a known ally of Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), minister, Nyesom Wike, governorship ambition.

Chinda had as emerged the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the party’s primary election held on May 21, 2026.

Chinda stood as the sole candidate in the election, following the last minute withdrawal of other contestants – incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Tonye Cole and Alabo Dakorinama George-Kelly.

Following the development, Chinda is currently the governorship candidate of the ruling APC in Rivers State, while also serving as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, a position he occupies due to his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Not much was heard about the lawmaker’s defection to the APC until his name came up as one of the aspirants in the ruling party’s Rivers gubernatorial primary.

However, legal hurdles emerged in the APC gubernatorial flagbearer’s path ahead of the 2027 election as an association of lawyers, who include members of Chinda’s Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency of Rivers State, has approached an Abuja Federal High Court seeking to stop him from taking part in the 2027 poll on the grounds that his defection from the PDP to the APC did not comply with provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, as amended, as well as Supreme Court pronouncements on defection of legislators.

According to court documents, lawyers under the aegis of Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners filed the suit on May 12, 2026, asking the court to stop Chinda from participating in the APC gubernatorial primary, and, in the event he emerges as candidate, bar him from participating in the general election.

Listed as respondents in the suit filed on behalf of the plaintiff by J. B Lamay, Esq, are Chinda, George-Kelly, Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Speaker House of Representatives, APC, Department of State Services, (DSS) and Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

Besides an order stopping Chinda from participating in the gubernatorial election in Rivers State, the plaintiff also asked the court to order the Speaker of the House of Representatives to immediately remove him as Minority Leader due to dual party membership, and declare his seat vacant.

Reliefs sought by the plaintiff include an order directing INEC to conduct a bye-election to fill the said vacancy due to Chinda’s alleged violation of Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and the Supreme Court of Nigeria judgment of 27th February 2025 that stipulates the steps for defection by legislators.

In the same vein, the plaintiff asked the court to order the national leadership of the APC to reject and prevent Chinda and George-Kelly from participating in the Rivers State governorship primaries due to violations of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.

In George-Kelly’s case, the court was informed that he failed to resign his position as Director-General of the Border Communities Development Agency according to the directive that all appointees of the President of Nigeria ought to resign by 30th March 2026 if they seek to contest elective positions in the 2027 general elections.

However, with George-Kelly having withdrawn from the primary, Chinda’s emergence as APC gubernatorial candidate is now under threat going by the reliefs sought in the lawsuit.

Specifically, the plaintiff asked the court for “an order directing INEC not to recognize or accord validity to the participation, nomination and/or candidature of the 1st and 2nd defendants/respondents (Chinda and George-Kelly) in the APC Rivers State governorship primary election” pending the determination of the suit.