The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has been formally asked to provide records of proceedings showing that a letter announcing the defection of Rivers State lawmaker Kingsley Chinda from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress was formally read on the floor of the House during plenary, as legal challenges to Chinda’s emergence as the APC Rivers State governorship candidate intensified.

The request was made through a letter dated May 26, 2026, signed by Jesse Williams Amuga, Administrative Secretary of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, invoking the Freedom of Information Act 2011. The association requested the Hansard, Votes of Proceedings, and Order Papers from all plenary sessions in March and April 2026, or any other date that would confirm when Chinda’s defection letter was formally read, which the group described as a constitutional condition precedent under Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution.

The Incorporated Trustees of the association, whose members included constituents of Chinda’s Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency, had also filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognizing Chinda as a governorship candidate. They argued that Chinda’s defection was inconsistent with Section 68(1)(g) of the constitution and Supreme Court pronouncements on legislative defections.

Chinda emerged as the APC governorship candidate in the May 21 primary after the last-minute withdrawal of other contestants, including incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Tonye Cole, and Alabo Dakorinama George-Kelly.

The Centre for Constitutional Governance and Electoral Integrity, responding to the lawsuit, said Chinda had already resigned as Minority Leader of the House before participating in the APC governorship process and had not taken part in any PDP activities since then.