ALDRAP asks INEC to disqualify Kingsley Chinda and call settlement meeting
The Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, asking the commission to disqualify Kingsley Chinda as the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate for Rivers State and to convene an out-of-court meeting to resolve related issues raised by a pending court case.
The request was contained in a letter ALDRAP sent to the INEC chairman and dated September 26, 2027, signed by the association’s executive secretary, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, according to a Daily Post report. The letter linked the demand to a suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja, in which ALDRAP is the plaintiff and INEC, Hon. Abdul Mahmud, the APC, Chinda and Mariana Ajibola are named as respondents.
In the Federal High Court action, filed as FHC/ABJ/CS/972/2026, ALDRAP asked the court to disqualify Chinda and APC candidates for the Rivers State House of Assembly. The group argues the APC Rivers State Governorship and House of Assembly Appeal Committee was staffed by individuals described as Chinda’s friends and colleagues, who are members of the House of Representatives. ALDRAP said this created a reasonable apprehension of bias and breached the constitutional right to fair hearing under Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution.
The reliefs listed in the suit include a declaration that the appointment of Hon. Abdul Mahmud and Hon. Mariana Ajibola as chairmen of the APC Rivers State House of Assembly screening and appeal committees was improper given their alleged political and personal ties to Chinda and to persons aligned with the Federal Capital Territory minister, Nyesom Wike. ALDRAP also asked the court to compel Chinda to appear to testify on oath about his relationships with Mahmud and Ajibola and to nullify the screening exercise conducted by the respondents, the Daily Post report said.
Supreme Court ruling cited as trigger for letter
ALDRAP told INEC the matter requires urgent attention in the light of a Supreme Court judgment delivered on September 24, 2026. The seven-member panel, led by Justice Adamu Jauro, set aside an earlier Court of Appeal decision and upheld sections 77(5) and 84 of the Electoral Act 2026 as constitutional, affirming INEC’s authority over certain provisions of the law. The judgment arose from a challenge brought by the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, and the Supreme Court restored the position of the Federal High Court while dismissing related appeals by the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the Youth Party, YP.
ALDRAP told INEC the association did not intend to have the commission disregard the Supreme Court ruling. Instead, the group sought a consultative meeting with INEC, the APC and Chinda to explore an out-of-court resolution and to determine the administrative steps needed to implement the court decision and address the issues raised in the pending proceedings.
“ALDRAP respectfully requests the Chairman of INEC to convene an urgent meeting with the Association and the relevant representatives of the APC and Hon. Kingsley Chinda, with a view to achieving an out-of-court settlement and lawful administrative resolution of the issues arising from the pending proceedings and the Supreme Court judgment,” the letter said.
The Daily Post report contains the text of ALDRAP’s letter and the details of the Federal High Court suit. ALDRAP asked that INEC urgently convene a consultative meeting to avoid multiplicity of proceedings and to assist the commission in maintaining certainty, transparency and compliance with the Constitution and applicable electoral legislation.
RiyeNewsday has not yet obtained comment from INEC, the APC, or Kingsley Chinda on ALDRAP’s request.
Source: Daily Post
Featured image: Jummy001 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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