The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has adjourned until 4 November 2026 the hearing of a suit seeking to disqualify the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Rivers State, Kingsley Chinda, over an alleged invalid defection from the Peoples Democratic Party.
Justice Muhammed Turaki granted the adjournment after the plaintiff, Samuel Amatonjie, who appeared in person, asked for time to respond to preliminary objections filed by counsel to some of the respondents.
Chinda, who currently serves as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, recently emerged as the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Rivers State. Other aspirants, including Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Tonye Cole and Alabo George Kelly, withdrew from the party’s governorship primary.
In the suit, brought by originating summons, Amatonjie asks the court to determine whether Chinda validly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress within the contemplation of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
He wants the court to decide, on a combined interpretation of Sections 177(c) and 68 of the Constitution, whether Chinda could be regarded as having validly defected to the All Progressives Congress as of 9 May 2026. That was the date on which he was screened, contested the party’s governorship primary and was declared its candidate for the 2027 election.
Amatonjie also seeks a declaration that the Independent National Electoral Commission is constitutionally bound to comply with the 1999 Constitution when determining the eligibility of persons seeking to contest the office of governor.
Among other reliefs, he asks the court to declare that the commission cannot validly recognise, accept or publish Chinda’s name as the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for the 2027 Rivers State election if it finds that he did not validly defect from the Peoples Democratic Party.
He further seeks an order declaring null and void any legal recognition allegedly accorded Chinda by the commission as the party’s governorship candidate.
The suit names Chinda, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Peoples Democratic Party, the All Progressives Congress, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Clerk to the National Assembly as respondents.
The case has placed Chinda’s eligibility to contest the Rivers State governorship election at the centre of a constitutional dispute. The plaintiff questions both the validity of his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress and the legal basis for his candidacy.
By A.Ikechukwu
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