Chinda’s 2027 ticket faces fresh legal scrutiny after the Supreme Court ruling on party membership registers, while Rivers APC rejects disqualification claims
Kingsley Ogundu Chinda, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Rivers State, is facing fresh questions over his 2027 ticket after a September 24, 2026, Supreme Court judgment restored provisions governing political party membership registers and participation in primaries.
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The Rivers State chapter of the African Democratic Congress has argued that the judgment could affect Chinda’s eligibility, citing the requirement that a candidate’s party membership must be reflected in the register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission at least 21 days before a primary.
The Supreme Court ruling has triggered a wider legal debate about the implications of Sections 77(5) and 77(6) of the Electoral Act 2026 for candidates who joined political parties shortly before their primaries.
BusinessDay reported that the judgment has put several 2027 nominations under fresh scrutiny.
Chizi Enyi, Publicity Secretary of the ADC in Rivers State, is among those arguing that Chinda’s nomination should be examined against the restored provisions.
Enyi said Chinda registered with the APC on April 27, 2026, while the party’s House of Representatives primary was conducted on May 16, leaving 19 days between the two dates.
“APC conducted its primary election for national assembly aspirants on May 16 and Chinda joined APC on April 27\. Counting from April 27 to May 16, you have 19 days, which is less than the mandatory 21 days’ notice,” Enyi said.
However, the controversy requires an important distinction. The Supreme Court did not specifically declare Chinda disqualified in its September 24 judgment.
Rather, the court restored statutory provisions concerning party membership registers and primary elections. Reports have subsequently raised questions about how those provisions apply to individual candidates.
There is also a significant difference between Chinda’s National Assembly primary and his governorship primary.
Chinda was declared the winner of the APC Rivers governorship primary on May 21, five days after the House of Representatives primary referenced by Enyi. Records cited by several reports put Chinda’s APC registration date at April 27.
The APC in Rivers State has rejected the argument that the timing automatically invalidates Chinda’s candidacy.
Ikenga Chibike, the party’s Publicity Secretary in Rivers State, said Chinda registered 24 days before the May 21 governorship primary and therefore met the 21-day period cited by the party.
“There is no atom of truth in that. They said 21 days, and Hon. Chinda’s timing was 24 days when you calculate it,” Chibike said.
That calculation is central to the emerging dispute. The ADC’s argument focuses on the April 27 registration date and the timing of the party’s membership register, while the APC maintains that the relevant period before the May 21 governorship primary was sufficient.
The Supreme Court’s judgment has nevertheless brought the party-register issue back into sharp focus. Reports on the ruling say the apex court restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 after the Court of Appeal had earlier invalidated the provisions.
The provisions concern, among other matters, the membership register that parties submit to INEC before their primaries and which members can participate in the nomination process.
Section 77(5) is particularly significant because it concerns members whose names appear on the register submitted to INEC within the statutory period before a primary.
Section 77(6) also restricts parties from relying on a different register from the one submitted to the electoral commission.
The question now being raised in Rivers is whether Chinda’s name appeared on the relevant APC register within the required period and what records the party submitted to INEC.
Enyi argued that if the APC had already submitted its membership register before Chinda joined the party, questions could extend beyond the governorship candidate to other APC candidates affected by the same register.
“My dear Nigerians, it is an obvious fact that Chinda is not qualified to run in the election. Or is APC telling us that they submitted multiple registers to the INEC?” he asked.
The APC has taken a different position, maintaining that there is no defect in Chinda’s nomination.
The party’s position is that the 21-day requirement was satisfied in relation to the May 21 governorship primary.
The dispute has also attracted attention because Chinda’s movement from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC has itself been part of the political debate in Rivers.
Chinda registered with the APC on April 27, according to reports, but his formal defection from the PDP was announced on the floor of the House of Representatives on June 2, after he had already won the APC governorship primary on May 21.
Opponents and some legal commentators have questioned the legal significance of those dates, particularly in relation to a serving legislator’s defection and the party membership records used for the primary.
The Association of Legislative Drafting Practitioners has also written to INEC seeking clarification over the status of Chinda’s nomination and the relevant membership-register records.
For now, the competing positions remain clear. Rivers ADC argues that the Supreme Court’s restoration of the statutory requirements raises a serious eligibility issue for Chinda, while Rivers APC insists that its candidate satisfied the whether Chinda registered with the APC on April 27, but what membership register the party submitted to INEC, when it was submitted, whether Chinda’s name was included, and how the Supreme Court’s applicable 21-day requirement and remains eligible.
The ultimate question is therefore not simply whether Chinda registered with the APC on April 27, but what membership register the party submitted to INEC, when it was submitted, whether Chinda’s name was included, and how the Supreme Court’s restored provisions apply to the May 21 governorship primary.
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With the 2027 governorship election approaching, those records and their legal interpretationley Chinda, Rivers APC, Supreme Court, 2027 Rivers election, Electoral could prove decisive in determining whether the controversy develops into a formal challenge to Chinda’s nomination.
