“You Must Go” Minority Reps Tell Chinda As Meeting With Speaker Ends In Chaos

There seems to be no respite for Kingsley Chinda, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives over plot by some aggrieved members of the caucus to remove him.

At a meeting held on Monday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, at the instance of the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas to resolve the matter , sources who attended informed the magazine that lawmakers from the minority caucuses which include, the PDP, LP, APGA insisted that Chinda immediately stepped down from his position to avoid being disgracefully removed.

Last week the magazine reported that Chinda, representing Obio/Akpor Constituency and ally of the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike rushed to court to secure an injunction to stop his removal by other lawmakers in the caucus, who according to sources accused him of cornering what belonged to them, and rued his leadership style. They also accused him of being a rubber stamp to the executive and the APC, the party in power.

Reliable sources informed the magazine that yesterday’s meeting ended with no respite for the lawmaker., as other lawmakers in the caucus said they are tired of his leadership and wanted him to go.

One of the sources who spoke stated that Abbas tried to appeal to the aggrieved lawmakers to pardon Chinda to no avail, as they bent on replacing him.

“The Speaker, Tajudeen Abbass begged them that they should allow Chinda to mend his way, by giving him another chance, but the lawmakers pointedly refused to listen to him, saying he has to go.,” the source said.

“When the Speaker realized that the meeting has become too rancorous, resulting almost in a shouting march, Abbass had to appeal to the aggrieved lawmakers to give him ‘one week’ to see how the matter can be resolved in another way, to which they agreed, but told him that Chinda will not be allowed to continue in his position.”

“The South west and the Northern lawmakers in the caucus have agreed that Chinda must leave, while some lawmakers from the south east caucus, are still supporting him but they are now in the minority, as those who want him out are in the majority,” another sources said.

The angry lawmakers also accused Chinda of filing a law suit on the issue without informing them, saying he intended to take them unawares, but the embattled Minority Leader pleaded that he only took the action to see whether the matter could be resolve amicably, and for self preservation.

According to the source, it was based “on the agreement” that the aggrieved lawmakers reached with Speaker Abbass that the issue was not discussed today during the Plenary in the House of Representatives.

The discontent among opposition lawmakers took a  new turn last week after Chinda, rushed to court in a bid to stop moves to remove him from office. His leadership has been fingered as one of the reasons the legislature is being tagged as a ‘rubber stamp’ to the executive.

The crisis rocking the Minority Leadership was fueled by perceived compromises on the part of the minority leadership in the 10th Assembly, which some angry lawmakers said is the reason why the NASS lost the respect of not a few Nigerians.

The minority leadership under Chinda has been accused of being overly cozy with the All Progressives Congress (APC) government, thus rendering them ineffective in holding the ruling party accountable for pressing issues like crippling hardship, rampant insecurity, and widespread corruption.

The lawmakers’ reluctance to speak out has sparked public outcry, eroding trust in the opposition’s ability to provide robust oversight.

Specifically, Chinda has been accused of failing to convene a single Minority Caucus meeting since the inauguration of the 10th House of Representatives over two years ago. Additionally, he has been criticized for granting media interviews that contradict the collectively agreed position of the PDP, and for allowing the Minority Caucus to be perceived as a lame duck Assembly.

Instead of addressing these allegations with his colleagues, Chinda had resolved  to take the matter to court, naming the National Assembly, House of Representatives, the Clerk, the Speaker and all minority parties, as defendants, in a move many see as an attempt to stall his potential removal, bordering on self-preservation, rather than the collective good of the legislature and essence of opposition voice in a democracy.

He alleged in the court documents that the move against him stems from his close association with Nyesom Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and former Governor of Rivers State, who is notably the only PDP member in President Bola Tinubu’s APC-led cabinet.

Some of the opposition lawmakers say that the development appears to be a classic case of the guilty fearing accountability. By rushing to court, Hon. Chinda may be attempting to buy time and stall the removal process, allowing the Minority Leadership to mobilize resources to compromise the process.

Already, it’s alleged that some members, especially from PDP and Labour Party are being wooed with between $2000 and $5000 not to endorse the removal of the Minority Leader.

In a court document dated September 15, 2025, Chinda prayed the court for an injunction to restrain the defendants (the National Assembly, House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, all minority parties and Clerk of the House) and their agents from removing him as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.