*Curiosity, Legal Challenge As Abbas Announces April 23 Defection On June 2
FORMER chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and rights activist, Chidi Odinkalu, said the Kingsley Chinda’s retention of House of Representatives Minority Leader position at the time he contested and won the governorship ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State amounted to dual status and organised crime’ synonymous with the “Tinubu system.”
Ostensibly due to public pressure, on Tuesday, June 2, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, read a letter, dated April 23, announcing Chinda’s defection from the PDP to APC, over one week after the political ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, secured the Rivers State APC governorship ticket, following the withdrawal of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Tonye Cole and George Kelly from the race.
Chinda, representing Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency, polled 268,497 votes after other aspirants withdrew from the contest.
Odinkalu, in a post on his verified X handle on Monday, June 1, questioned how Chinda could simultaneously serve as the face of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatves and governorship candidate of the ruling APC.
According to Odinkalu: “For the past three years, my good friend, Kingsley Chinda, has been the face of PDP in the Green Chamber.
“There is no record that he has resigned or been removed. As at today, he remains the Minority Leader of Nigeria’s House of Representatives.
“How one man can be both candidate of the ruling party and leader of the opposition in parliament must be one of the miracles of Nigeria’s civil rule under the Tinubu system.
“This is not politics; it is organised crime.”
Chinda’s emergence remains a subject of public debate and legal contest, because at the time he participated in APC screening and subsequently secured its governorship ticket, there was no public record of his resignation from the PDP or removal as minority leader.
The matter is already being challenged in court, in a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising Chinda as APC governorship candidate, arguing that his defection raised constitutional and electoral questions.
Following the announcement of his defection on Tuesday, Chinda subsequently resigned his position as Minority Leader.
He had stirred public scrutiny after appearing before the APC screening panel days before its governorship primary, without formally announcing his defection to the ruling party.
On Monday, June 1, a faction of the APC in Rivers State, led by Emeka Beke, declared his emergence as null and void.
