Chinda’s defection to APC organized crime, no court ruling can clean it up – Odinkalu

Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, has reacted to the defection of Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Odinkalu, in a post on X on Tuesday, described the development as “organized crime,” insisting that no court ruling could justify the circumstances surrounding Chinda’s move to the ruling party.

His reaction comes amid controversy surrounding the announcement by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, that Chinda had defected from the PDP to the APC.

The Speaker, during plenary on Tuesday, read a letter notifying the House of Chinda’s defection.
However, the letter was dated April 23, 2026.

The development comes after Chinda had already emerged as the APC governorship candidate in Rivers State ahead of the 2027 election.

Following the announcement of his defection, Chinda resigned his position as Minority Leader of the House.

Reacting, Odinkalu noted that Chinda was selected as the APC governorship candidate for Rivers State while he was still serving as Minority Leader on the platform of the PDP.

According to him, efforts may be made to legitimise the situation through the courts, but he maintained that the circumstances surrounding the defection could not be justified.

DAILY POST reports that Chinda is currently facing a lawsuit over allegations that his defection from the PDP to the APC did not follow due process.

The House of Representatives is expected to elect a new Minority Leader following his resignation.

He wrote: “Today, the speaker of @HouseNGR has announced the defection of my good friend, @OKChinda, from @OfficialPDPNig to @OfficialAPCNg.

“It is claimed he also now ceases to be #MinorityLeader of the House. They back-dated the letter of notification to 23 April.

“Last month, while still the Minority Leader of the House, Chinda was selected to be the candidate of the ruling @OfficialAPCNg for governorship of Rivers State in #NigeriaDecides2027.

“I am sure they have lined up their #FullyOwned judges to make this look kosher with a suitable court order. But no amount of #CourtWashing can clean this up. It is #OrganizedCrime. Period!”