The Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking a review of the nomination of Kingsley Ogundu Chinda as the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for Rivers State in the 2027 election.
ALDRAP, in a letter dated September 26, 2026, also requested that INEC convene an urgent meeting involving the association, the APC and Chinda to explore an out-of-court resolution of issues arising from a pending Federal High Court case and a recent Supreme Court judgment on the Electoral Act 2026.
The association’s request is contained in a letter signed by its Executive Secretary, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja.
The Federal High Court suit, numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/972/2026, has ALDRAP as plaintiff, while INEC, Abdul Mahmud, the APC, its National Chairman, Chinda and Mariana Ajibola are listed as respondents.
In the suit, ALDRAP is challenging aspects of the APC’s Rivers State governorship and House of Assembly screening and appeal processes.
The association alleges that the screening and appeal committees were populated by individuals it claims had political, professional or personal relationships with Chinda and persons aligned with Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike.
ALDRAP is asking the court to declare that the alleged relationships involving Mahmud and Ajibola created a reasonable apprehension of bias and compromised the independence and impartiality of the screening exercise.
It is relying, among other provisions, on Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees the right to fair hearing.
The association has also asked the court to compel Chinda to appear and testify under oath concerning his alleged political and personal relationships with Mahmud and Ajibola, as well as to nullify the screening exercise conducted by the respondents.
However, in its latest letter to INEC, ALDRAP said the Supreme Court’s judgment of September 24, 2026 had brought additional legal and electoral issues into focus.
The Supreme Court had, in a judgment delivered by a seven-member panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro, allowed INEC’s appeal and set aside a Court of Appeal decision that had invalidated provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to political party membership registers and candidate nomination.
The apex court held that Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 were not inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, thereby restoring the position of the Federal High Court.
The case originated from a constitutional challenge by the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), while the Supreme Court also dismissed related appeals brought by the Social Democratic Party and the Youth Party.
Against this background, ALDRAP told INEC that the judgment had implications for the Rivers State governorship nomination and requested an administrative resolution of the issues it had raised in its pending case.
In the letter, the association said it had previously instituted proceedings in which INEC was the first respondent, Mahmud the second respondent and Chinda the fifth respondent.
It maintained that its pending action challenged, among other issues, the participation of Mahmud and Chinda in the APC Rivers State screening process on the grounds that their alleged political, professional and personal relationships created a reasonable apprehension of bias.
ALDRAP said the Supreme Court judgment had “further brought into sharp focus” what it described as the legal and electoral consequences surrounding the APC governorship candidature.
The association therefore asked INEC to convene an urgent meeting with its representatives, the APC and Chinda to consider an out-of-court settlement and determine the appropriate administrative steps arising from the Supreme Court judgment.
It said the proposed engagement was not intended to ask INEC to disregard or undermine the Supreme Court’s decision, but rather to facilitate what it described as a lawful resolution of the consequential issues.
Among the issues ALDRAP wants addressed are the status of the APC governorship nomination, applicable membership-register requirements, records submitted to INEC by the APC and the administrative steps required to give effect to the apex court’s judgment.
The association said an early resolution, where legally permissible, would help avoid multiplicity of proceedings and assist INEC in maintaining certainty, transparency and compliance with the Constitution and electoral laws.
Chinda emerged as the APC’s Rivers State governorship candidate at the party’s primary election on May 21, 2026, after Governor Siminalayi Fubara withdrew from the contest. Reports at the time said Chinda was the sole aspirant at the primary.
ALDRAP had previously approached the Federal High Court seeking an order stopping INEC from recognising Chinda’s participation in the APC governorship primary.
