A crisis is brewing in the House of Representatives over alleged moves by members of opposition political parties to remove the House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, amid growing discontent within the ranks of the minority caucus.
This development comes as the National Assembly prepares to resume tomorrow from its over two-month annual recess, barring any last-minute change. The resumption had been earlier scheduled for September 23 but was later postponed to October 7 by the leadership of both chambers of parliament.
Sources told Daily Trust yesterday that the planned reopening of plenary is expected to rekindle power tussles within the opposition bloc, which comprises lawmakers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Young Progressives Party (YPP).
Chinda, who represents Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency of Rivers State under the PDP platform, has been at the centre of the storm. The ranking lawmaker and lawyer is widely seen as a strong ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. He has, however, approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to obtain an interim injunction stopping any attempt to remove him from office.
According to sources, the major grievance against Chinda is his alleged failure to convene a formal meeting of all minority members in nearly two years. Lawmakers across opposition parties reportedly view this as a deliberate attempt to centralise decision-making and shut out other caucus members from collective deliberations.
‘Since the House was inaugurated, he has not called any meeting,’ one opposition member told Daily Trust. ‘He runs a one-man show. Nobody knows what is happening. We only read things in the media.’
‘The minority caucus is supposed to be vibrant and united, but that unity is being eroded,’ another lawmaker said. ‘People are leaving the opposition almost every week, and yet no meeting has been called to address it. That’s not leadership,’ one of the lawmakers told Daily Trust anonymously.
Efforts by Daily Trust to get Chinda’s reaction yesterday proved abortive, as he neither answered calls nor replied to a WhatsApp message sent to his mobile line.
Chinda asks court to stop removal as Minority Leader
Chinda had approached a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking protection from what he described as an illegal plot to remove him as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
In his suit, Chinda alleged that some lawmakers were plotting to remove him because of his association with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, a fellow PDP member.
He argued that such a move violated his constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of association under Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The lawmaker joined multiple parties as defendants in the case: the House of Representatives, the National Assembly, the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Speaker of the House, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and seven political parties-PDP, LP, NNPP, APGA, SDP, ADC, and YPP-reflecting the breadth of opposition interest in the leadership issue.
In the suit filed by his counsel, J.Y. Musa (SAN), Chinda asked the court to declare that the defendants lacked the authority to remove him arbitrarily from his position without adhering to the due process stipulated under Order 7, Rule 14 of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives (Eleventh Edition). He said any attempt to do so outside the provisions of the Standing Orders and democratic norms would be unlawful.
He prayed the court to grant an injunction restraining all defendants-from the PDP to the YPP-from ‘further proceeding with any act or exercise purportedly aimed at removing the plaintiff from his position as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in violation of the sacred provisions of the Constitution. and without compliance with the provisions of the extant Standing Orders of the House.’
In his statement of claim, Chinda explained that Wike was his constituent and that their political relationship was both natural and legitimate. He recounted that on August 25, 2025, while the PDP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting was ongoing, some lawmakers held a parallel meeting where his removal was discussed and postponed for further deliberation the following week.
Our grouse with Chinda – PDP caucus leader
The leader of the PDP caucus in the House of Representatives, Fred Agbedi, who spoke to Daily Trust, said: ‘Our leader is in court against us, so that makes it impossible for me to start talking because the matter is in court. I’m not aware of any removal plot. Me, as a person and as leader of the caucus, I am not aware.
‘If he feels that there is a special plot against him, what some of us will try to do is to report back to our party and see how we can join him in court and all that. But as for any plot to remove him, I’m not aware.
‘The only concern we have is that we have not held minority meetings for two years, and that we are worried about it. We are only talking to our leader to convene a meeting. That is all. That is what we had told the speaker.
According to him, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen had recently intervened in the matter after receiving reports of internal unease within the opposition ranks.
‘Mr Speaker invited me last week Friday-either on the 26th of September or thereabout. He said there were issues, and he needed to intervene to resolve them. He promised that at resumption, he was going to convene a meeting,’ Agbedi said.
The Bayelsa-born lawmaker disclosed that he had personally advised Chinda
‘to convene a meeting. We can’t be operating here without coming together. And our numbers are also depleting,’ he noted.
‘He (Chinda) invited me and said some of us were doing things against him. I told him I was not aware of all these things. People may express anger and frustration, but there is no action towards removing you from office. I said, please, people are agitated because there is no meeting-so convene a meeting.
‘My utmost surprise and shock was that while myself and my leader were discussing one-on-one, from the court records, even before I met with him, this matter had been filed and served,’ he revealed.
‘So apparently, even when Mr Speaker invited us to talk, this matter had already been filed. I told the Speaker we don’t have any issue of welfare. You are doing your best, we support you, we are loyal to your leadership. The only thing that bothers us is that there have been no meetings.’
Lawmakers summon emergency meeting
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of all minority members of the House of Representatives has been slated for today following the development.
A notice of the meeting, a copy of which was seen by Daily Trust, indicates that the meeting will hold in Abuja.
The notice was jointly signed by Hon Fred Agbedi, Leader of the PDP Caucus; Hon Afam Ogene, Leader of the LP Caucus; Hon Muktar Umar-Zakari for the NNPP Caucus; and Hon Peter Uzokwe for the YPP.
The notice reads: ‘You are hereby invited to an emergency meeting to discuss recent developments in the minority leadership, particularly to review the lawsuit instituted by the Minority Leader, Hon Kingsley Chinda, against all members of minority parties in the 10th House of Representatives.’a