The House of Representatives minority caucus will meet in Abuja on Monday on the lawsuit filed by its leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, to stop the alleged plot to remove him.
A notice of meeting issued on Sunday listed the meeting agenda to include “Response to the lawsuit instituted by House Minority Leader, Rt. Hon. Kingsley Chinda, against all minority parties and any other business”.
It was signed by the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus, Hon. Agbedi Frederick; Hon. Afam Ogene (Labour Party); Hon. Muktar Umar-Zakari (New Nigeria Peoples Party – NNPP); and Hon. Peter Uzokwe for the Young Peoples Party (YPP).
In a writ of summons dated 25 September 2025 and filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, Chinda stated that there were ongoing moves to remove him as Minority Leader of the House because of his close relationship with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike.
Chinda represents Obio/Akpor constituency in the House, and Wike is from that constituency.
The lawmaker argued that, if allowed, his removal would amount to unconstitutionality and a violation of his fundamental right to freedom of association, and on this note, prayed the court to restrain the defendants from proceeding with their alleged plans.
Listed as first to 12th defendants in the suit were the National Assembly, Clerk of the National Assembly, House of Representatives, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Clerk of the House of Representatives, PDP, Labour Party, NNPP, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Social Democratic Party, African Democratic Congress and YPP.
The defendants were said to have allegedly resolved to remove Chinda because his leadership is one of the reasons the legislature is being tagged as a “rubber stamp” to the executive.
Opposition lawmakers in the 10th Assembly have reportedly resolved to Chinda when the House resumes from its vacation on Tuesday, 7 October.
The minority leadership, under Chinda, has been accused of being overly cosy with the All Progressives Congress government, thus rendering them ineffective in holding the ruling party accountable for pressing issues like crippling hardship, rampant insecurity, and widespread corruption.
This suspicion has led to the opposition in the House losing trust in Chinda and in the opposition’s ability to provide robust oversight, thus sparking public outcry.
The Minority Leader is also accused of failing to convene a single Minority Caucus meeting since the inauguration of the 10th House of Representatives over two years ago.
Additionally, he has been criticised for granting media interviews that contradict the collectively agreed position of the PDP and for allowing the Minority Caucus to be perceived as a lame-duck Assembly.
However, Chinda decided to be one step ahead and approached the court to challenge his purported removal by seeking the following declarations against the defendants.
He sought an order of injunction restraining the first to fifth defendants, their privies, agents, servants, officers, howsoever described, from giving effect to any exercise or instrument purporting to have removed him in disregard of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), or any Rules or Standing Orders of the House of Representatives.
He also sought any other order(s), as the court may deem fit, to make in the circumstances of the case.
The plaintiff averred that the change of the minority leadership of the House can only be made by the majority of the members of the minority parties in the House themselves after due notice to the House.
He said that during the current recess of the House of Representatives, some minority parties of the House, mainly the PDP, have been holding clandestine meetings and lobbying members of the other minority parties to have him removed as Minority Leader of the House before its resumption, and to present same to the fourth defendant on resumption of the House.
He argued that any purported exercise removing him as Minority Leader of the House can only become effective upon recognition by the 1st-5th Defendants.
He stated that while the PDP National Executive Committee was in progress on Monday, 25 August 2025, some members of the House of Representatives, under the auspices of the PDP caucus in the House, were also holding a meeting where the issue of his immediate removal was discussed and reserved for further deliberation in a meeting to be held the following week.
He said that by a publication made in a media platform on 6 September 2025, the sixth to 12th defendants met and made a decision to remove him and the Deputy Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, making it clear in the publication that the decision was based on his relationship with the FCT Minister.
He reiterated that the move by the defendants, jointly and severally, to remove him from his position as the Minority Leader on account of his association with Wike, who is a member of his political party, is a clear violation of his right to freedom of association and urged the court to stop them.
