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…Opposition lawmakers move against Chinda, others
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Ahead of the October 7 resumption of the National Assembly, a crack has emerged in the minority caucus of the House of Representatives, with members moving for the sack of the minority leader, Kingsley Chinda and other minority principal officers of the House.
The opposition lawmakers, Saturday Sun gathered, were angry with the leadership for allegedly siding with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government, thus rendering them ineffective in holding the ruling party accountable on pressing issues like crippling hardship, rampant insecurity, and widespread corruption.
Apart from Chinda, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), other minority principal officers include the minority whip, Ali JC Isa, also from the PDP; Deputy Minority Leader, Ali Madaki from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi, from the Labour Party (LP).
However, Chinda has reportedly filed a suit before a Federal High in Abuja to stall his removal. According to court documents seen by Saturday Sun, joined in the suit as defendants were the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, the Clerk of the National Assembly as well as opposition political parties.
The embattled minority leader, in the documents dated September 15, had stated that the PDP caucus in the House was plotting his removal because of his close relationship with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
A National Assembly source, who pleaded anonymity, said that the current crisis in the minority caucus was triggered by the disparity in the allocation of Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIPs).
Earlier, lawmakers from various political parties had issues relating to execution of these ZIPs, and the disparity between the funds allocated to ZIPs of principal officers and members.
The source noted that the opposition lawmakers were particularly angry with their leadership for allegedly not representing them well, and for failing to convene a meeting of the caucus.
Consequently, they planned to move against Chinda and other minority principal officers on September 23, 2025, when the House was scheduled to resume from its annual vacation, before the resumption was shifted to October 7.
According to him, “the ZIP is part of the issue. That was why the leadership was trying to help him because all of them were involved. Other members were complaining that the disparity between them and the leadership is too much.
“That was part of the reason they shifted the resumption, because they were ready to blow it open because they met ahead of the resumption date.”
An opposition lawmaker, who also pleaded for anonymity, told our correspondent that he was surprised to hear that the minority leader had gone to court to stop the minority caucus from removing him as their leader.
He explained that the opposition lawmakers were yet to issue any notice for the removal of the minority leader, stating that they merely insisted that he convened a meeting of the caucus.
“Why is he going to court? Have we issued any notice? What we told him was to call a meeting of the minority caucus. We are demanding a meeting. If for two years, he has not called for a meeting and he was told to call for a meeting and the response is going to court, that means he has something hidden.”
