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INEC CLEARS WIKE ALLY, CHINDA FOR RIVERS GUBER POLL

October 11, 2026 • Dons Eze • 1 min read

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared Kingsley Chinda for the 2027 governorship election in Rivers State.

Chinda was number 5 in the 19-man list released by the electoral commission, on Saturday.

The former minority leader of the House of Representatives was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

His emergence as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the forthcoming governorship election had generated interest as news of his defection to the APC did not make headlines.

Attention shifted to Chinda and some other notable political figures after the Supreme Court restored Sections 77(5), (6), (7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, barring parties from fielding candidates whose names were not in the membership register submitted to INEC within the stipulated time.

But the ally of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, made the final governorship list.

Dons Eze

DONS EZE, PhD, Political Philosopher and Journalist of over four decades standing, worked in several newspaper houses across the country, and rose to the positions of Editor and General Manager. A UNESCO Fellow in Journalism, Dr. Dons Eze, a prolific writer and author of many books, attended several courses on Journalism and Communication in both Nigeria and overseas, including a Postgraduate Course on Journalism at Warsaw, Poland; Strategic Communication and Practical Communication Approach at RIPA International, London, the United Kingdom, among others.