A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has scheduled November 4, 2026, for a hearing in a suit challenging Kingsley Chinda's nomination as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2027 Rivers State election. The plaintiff, Samuel Amatonjie, argues that Chinda's defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC was not validly completed before participating in the APC governorship screening and primary.
The case centres on Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which governs the defection of National Assembly members. Amatonjie claims 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 on May 9 and 21, 2026, respectively.
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. The court will also consider whether the reliefs sought could affect Chinda's candidacy for the 2027 Rivers governorship 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. 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.
The plaintiff is seeking 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.
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 challenge 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. The court's decision will have implications for Chinda's candidacy and the 2027 Rivers State governorship election.
Key points
- The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt will hear the suit challenging Kingsley Chinda's nomination as the APC governorship candidate on November 4, 2026.
