The defection of the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) is again causing nationwide reactions. Chinda had emerged as the APC governorship candidate in Rivers State.
NewsBits recalls that Chinda, an ally of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister Nyesom Wike, emerged after Governor Siminalayi Fubara stepped down from the race. However, this happened without his public defection from the PDP to the APC. On Tuesday, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, announced during the plenary that Chinda had defected from the PDP to the APC.
The Speaker, during plenary on Tuesday, read a letter dated April 23, 2026, notifying the House of Chinda’s defection. Consequently, the Rivers lawmaker resigned his position as Minority Leader of the House. The development comes days after Chinda had already emerged as the APC governorship candidate in Rivers State ahead of the 2027 election.
Reacting, Odinkalu, in a post on X on Tuesday, described the development as “organized crime,” insisting that no court ruling could justify the circumstances surrounding Chinda’s move to the ruling party. He noted that Chinda was selected as the APC’s governorship candidate for Rivers State while he was still serving as Minority Leader on the platform of the PDP.
According to him, efforts may be made to legitimise the situation through the courts, but he maintained that the circumstances surrounding the defection could not be justified. He wrote: “Today, the speaker of @HouseNGR has announced the defection of my good friend, @OKChinda, from @OfficialPDPNig to @OfficialAPCNg.
“It is claimed he also now ceases to be #MinorityLeader of the House. They backdated the letter of notification to 23 April. Last month, while still the Minority Leader of the House, Chinda was selected to be the candidate of the ruling @OfficialAPCNg for the governorship of Rivers State in #NigeriaDecides2027.
“I am sure they have lined up their #FullyOwned judges to make this look kosher with a suitable court order. But no amount of #CourtWashing can clean this up. It is #OrganizedCrime. Period!”
