Sixty one out of the eighty one opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives have nominated Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere as the next Minority Leader following the defection of Kingsley Chinda from the PDP to APC, RadarrNews has learnt.
Majority of lawmakers who signed the letter addressed to Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, are drawn from the NDC, ADC, APGA, LP, PRP, APP, APM, SDP, and Accord Party.
With the overwhelming majority, Ugochinyere, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), is now set to become the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives but there are rival moves by some lawmakers working against his nomination with rumours of them supporting Hon. Frederick Agbedi, the member representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State.
The lawmakers believe that Ugochinyere belongs to the APP, one of the smallest parties in the chamber with only two members and they’re also saying that the position was vacated by Chinda, who is from the South South hence it would be expected that someone from the zone takes the position.
Attention is now focused on Speaker Abbas Tajudeen and whether the House leadership will formally recognise the nomination submitted by the 61 opposition lawmakers.
