The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has fixed date for the hearing of a suit challenging the nomination of Kingsley Chinda as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the 2027 Rivers State election.
The new date for hearing of the suit is slated for November 4, 2026.
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.
Amatonjie is challenging Chinda’s eligibility to participate in the APC governorship primary, arguing that his defection from the PDP to the APC was not completed in accordance with Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, before the party’s screening and primary.
When the matter came up before Justice Mohammed Turaki, the plaintiff informed the court that he was served with processes filed by some of the defendants on September 28 and required additional time to study and respond to them.
Following submissions by the parties, Justice Turaki adjourned the matter to November 4 for hearing.
Speaking with journalists after the proceedings, Amatonjie said the suit was instituted as a public interest litigation seeking an interpretation of Section 68 of the Constitution on defection by a member of the National Assembly.
He said the central issue was whether Chinda’s defection from the PDP to the APC had been completed as of May 9, 2026, when he was screened for the APC governorship primary, and May 21, 2026, when he emerged as the party’s candidate.
According to him, Chinda’s resignation and defection letter was read on the floor of the House of Representatives by the Speaker on June 2, 2026.
Amatonjie said the court would determine whether Chinda was constitutionally entitled to participate in the APC screening and primary before the formal reading of his defection and resignation letter.
He, however, clarified that the suit was not seeking a general determination of whether Chinda had the right to contest the governorship election.
‘I am not saying he does not have the right to contest the position of governor in Rivers State. What I am saying, by virtue of the said provision of the Constitution, Section 68, is whether, as at the material time he picked that ticket, his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress had crystallised,’ he said.
Among the reliefs sought, the plaintiff is asking the court to declare that constitutional requirements governing defection by a member of the National Assembly must be complied with before such a person can validly participate in a political party’s governorship primary.
He is also seeking a declaration that INEC cannot validly recognise or publish Chinda as the APC governorship candidate if the court finds that he had not validly defected from the PDP before the APC screening and primary.
The plaintiff is further asking the court to disqualify Chinda from the 2027 Rivers State governorship election if it grants the reliefs sought.
Counsel to the PDP, Paul Daudu (SAN), said the matter was adjourned because the plaintiff required time to respond to processes filed by the defendants.
‘It was slated for hearing, but the plaintiff asked for adjournment because he needed to respond to the processes filed by the first, second and third defendants. That is essentially what happened,’ Daudu said.
Counsel to Chinda, Dike Udenna, also confirmed the adjournment, saying the plaintiff had sought time to respond to the preliminary objections and counter-affidavits filed by the defendants.