Sixty-one out of the eighty-one opposition lawmakers in Nigeria’s House of Representatives have endorsed Ikenga Imo-Ugochinyere as Minority Leader designate following the resignation of the former Minority Leader.
The vacancy was announced by Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, during Tuesday’s plenary after the resignation of Kingsley Chinda from the minority leadership position.
Documents containing the signatures of the 61 lawmakers showed that a majority of opposition members settled for Ugochinyere as their preferred choice and formally submitted his nomination to the Speaker in line with parliamentary tradition.
The lawmakers expressed confidence that the Speaker would officially announce their decision at the next legislative sitting to allow the opposition caucus fill the vacant leadership position.
Earlier during plenary, Speaker Abbas informed lawmakers of a meeting scheduled for Thursday with members of the House Minority Caucus to address the leadership vacancy created by Chinda’s resignation.
The lawmakers said their decision was based on Ugochinyere’s legislative performance and political experience, including his previous role as Senior Adviser to former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, which they described as qualifications for the position.
(Editor: Ada Ononye)
