Plot to remove Chinda divides House of Representatives

A fresh crisis is brewing in the House of Representatives as opposition lawmakers intensify moves to unseat the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, over allegations of compromise and poor leadership. 
 
On the other hand, the House Committee on Constitution Review (HCCR) will reportedly hold a high-level consultative meeting today with the leadership of Nigeria’s registered political parties.
 
The minority caucus is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting in Abuja today to deliberate on the lawsuit filed by Chinda to stop the alleged plot to remove him from office. The meeting is coming 24 hours before the House reconvenes from recess tomorrow. 
 
A notice of the meeting jointly signed by Agbedi Frederick (PDP), Afam Ogene (LP), Muktar Umar-Zakari (NNPP) and Peter Uzokwe (YPP), issued yesterday, stated that members would review recent developments in the minority leadership and respond to the court action instituted by Chinda.
 
The agenda, according to the notice, includes a response to the lawsuit filed by Chinda against all minority parties and ‘Any Other Business (AOB)’.
 
It reads: “To all Minority Members of the House of Representatives: You are hereby invited to an emergency meeting to discuss recent developments in the minority leadership, particularly to review the lawsuit instituted by Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, against all members of minority parties in the 10th House of Representatives.”
 
Chinda, who represents Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency of Rivers State, filed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1936/2025 at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to halt moves by some opposition lawmakers to oust him over his perceived closeness with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
 
Listed as 1st to 12th defendants in the suit were the National Assembly, the Clerk of the National Assembly, the House of Representatives, the Speaker, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, PDP, Labour Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Young Progressive Party (YPP).
 
He argued that his removal would amount to a violation of his constitutional right to freedom of association and urged the court to restrain the defendants from taking any steps to remove him.
  
The Guardian gathered that opposition lawmakers accuse Chinda of aligning too closely with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying this weakened the caucus’s ability to hold the government accountable on issues such as rising poverty, insecurity and corruption.
 
The move to oust Chinda, according to sources, stems from growing dissatisfaction among opposition lawmakers, who accuse his leadership of reducing the legislature to a mere “rubber stamp” of the executive.

TODAY’S session, part of the 10th Assembly’s broader programme to amend the Constitution, will be held in Abuja at 10 a.m. There are 18 registered parties in Nigeria.
 
According to a statement by the House Spokesperson, Akin Rotimi, the meeting will gather national chairmen, national secretaries, national women leaders, and other senior officers of registered parties.
 
The agenda includes deliberations on thematic areas like special seats for women, judicial and electoral reform, independent candidacy, local government reform, state policing, human rights and justice.
 
Rotimi said the meeting would allow parties to bring their institutional experience and perspectives to bear on the amendment process. Deputy Speaker/Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee (CRC), Benjamin Kalu, was quoted in the statement as describing political parties as “the engine room of our democracy”, asserting that their active participation “is essential” for credible, inclusive constitutional amendments.
 
To guide deliberations, the committee says it has prepared a compendium summarising the bills presently under review, available for download from their website at hccr.gov.ng.  The consultation builds on momentum from a national public hearing held on September 22, which followed zonal hearings across Nigeria.(Guardian)