Following the recent Supreme Court judgment, Rivers State chapter of the African Democratic Congress has explained why it claimed that the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Kingsley Ogundu Chinda, is no longer qualified to contest the 2027 election.
Recall that the Supreme Court, in a judgment delivered on September 24, emphasised compliance with Section 77(5) and (6) of the Electoral Act, which requires political parties to submit their verified register of members to the Independent National Electoral Commission at least 21 days before conducting their primary elections.
The landmark judgment has sparked a legal debate over the implications of the decision for several candidates vying for the different offices.
Publicity Secretary of the ADC in Rivers State, Chizi Enyi, in his reaction, said the Supreme Court’s verdict has nullified the candidacy of Chinda.
He alleged in a video posted on X that only 19 days elapsed between Chinda’s registration with the party and the submission of its register to INEC.
He said, “On OK Chinda, where people are asking whether he is qualified or not, the mandatory notice of which a political party can field candidate is that you must submit your membership register to the INEC at least 21 days before the primary election.
“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.
“This means that all the House of Representatives candidates of APC may not be qualified to run in the election if APC submitted its register after Chinda joined.
“Before Chinda joined, there was a report on April 24 that APC beat the deadline before INEC extended it to May 10. This means that Chinda joined the party after the register had been submitted to INEC.
“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”?
