House of Reps Dispute: MP Disowns Ugochinyere's Nomination

A new fight over the opposition leadership in the House of Representatives broke out on Thursday. Philip Agbese, the deputy spokesperson of the House, said he did not support Ikenga Ugochinyere for minority leader. He also claimed that an unknown MP forged his signature.

The argument escalated during plenary, leading to intense exchanges among lawmakers. This situation briefly interrupted the session as MPs debated the conflicting claims about the race for minority leadership.

This issue arises just a day after reports showed that 61 out of 81 opposition MPs in the House backed Mr Ugochinyere for minority leader. They submitted their nominations to Speaker Abbas Tajudeen. An announcement on the leadership of the minority caucus is expected soon.

Mr Agbese, who represents Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency in Benue State, was among the 61 lawmakers who allegedly signed the nomination document.

During Thursday's plenary, Mr Agbese raised a privilege issue and denied endorsing the nomination. He claimed his signature was used without his permission. "Yesterday I saw a document on the internet with my name reportedly nominating a member of this House for the post of minority leader,” he said.

He explained that while he had talked to several MPs, including Mr Ugochinyere, those discussions were about issues facing the opposition and constituency projects, not about who should be minority leader.

“I had conversed, deliberated and visited many members of this House. One of the people I had such discussions with was my colleague, Honourable Ikenga Ugochinyere. Our discussion was basically centred on the welfare of members of the caucus,” he said.

Mr Agbese questioned the validity of the endorsement document. He pointed out that one signatory, Seyi Sowunmi from Lagos, could not have gotten his signature legitimately.

“The person who signed this document, Honourable Seyi ...I have not seen him since December 2025, so I am at a loss. I feel that my legislative privilege has been breached because this amounts to forgery for my signature to be used for purposes which were not intended,” he stated.

He asked the House to investigate the issue and stop any further use of his signature. He also accused supporters of Mr Ugochinyere of trying to damage his reputation by suggesting that MPs received $50,000 in relation to the endorsement.

“I saw on a social media blog that members have received a certain amount of money. I have not received any amount of money from anybody,” he added.

Mr Agbese said he would submit both the document and media reports to the House to support his claims.

“My constituents have been calling me to know. This is not the first time my name has been mentioned in an issue like this. I don’t want to be involved and I don’t want my name to be further maligned as far as this is concerned because I have a right as a member of this House for my privileges to be fully protected,” he said.

Speaker asks for calm

Speaker Abbas Tajudeen responded by acknowledging the complaint and promised to look into the matter.

“The observations and complaints are duly noted. We will take action on the issue raised in due course,” Mr Tajudeen said.

However, he urged opposition members to avoid further public arguments about the situation. He announced a closed-door meeting with all minority members later that day.

“I want to bring to the attention of all minorities that I am inviting every minority member of this House to a closed-door meeting today at 2 o’clock so that we can discuss further,” he said.

Despite the Speaker’s intervention, the issue continued to stir debate. Billy Osawaru, an Edo State member, argued that Mr Agbese's claims were serious and should be investigated by the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

“We know the nature of the issue we are dealing with. An issue like this should be referred to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges no matter what we want to do. I think it’s also a parliamentary procedure,” he said.

Ojema Ojotu, an APC member from Benue State, supported this view.

Ugochinyere rejects forgery claim

Mr Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato North/Ideato South Federal Constituency in Imo State, quickly denied the allegations. He insisted that Mr Agbese endorsed his nomination personally.

He argued that the Benue lawmaker visited him and signed the nomination document willingly in front of witnesses.

“My colleague Agbese made some weighty allegations before every member here and today on live transmission,” Mr Ugochinyere said.

“My brother arrived from Benue late for our meeting, met me in the office in the presence of some of my colleagues that I will bring forward, and voluntarily on his own and independently pledged and signed my nomination for the post of minority leader.”

Mr Agbese interrupted, denying the claim. “I never did that,” he shouted.

This back-and-forth sparked chaos in the chamber as MPs began to argue, prompting the presiding officers to call for order multiple times.

Once calm returned, Mr Ugochinyere continued, saying the allegations were meant to undermine his candidacy.

“I am subject to your fatherly decision to sit on the matter, but it was important that such a treacherous lie and attempt to defame and blackmail should be vehemently defeated,” he said.

He also highlighted that his nomination had strong backing among opposition lawmakers.

“I understand that at the moment an overwhelming majority of 61 out of 81 opposition members elected me. It may not go down well with some people, but I never expected that desperation would get to this level,” he said.

He suggested that some opposing him were not part of the minority caucus.

More debate

As the discussions heated up, Awaji-Inombek Abiante from Rivers State warned against treating Mr Ugochinyere’s claims as official House business.

He said that decisions about the minority leader would only be made when the opposition caucus formally presents its candidate.

“I want to put it on record that whatever has been said relative to electing a minority leader should be expunged from the records of this House because it is not before us,” Mr Abiante said.

“Members of the minority will come before all of us and we will know who the leader will be. Whatever he has said is just his personal opinion.”

Bob Solomon, also from Rivers State, added that the House must follow its rules when selecting leaders.

“What we are seeing here, what has happened now, is as a result of this House’s tolerance. We have rules. The House rule says the decision regarding who shall be a principal officer will be [based] primarily on cognate experience,” he said.

Mr Tajudeen intervened again, asking members to avoid further arguments and wait for the scheduled meeting with minority lawmakers.

“Please, honourable colleagues, let us not overheat this issue. We already have the 2 o’clock meeting. Let us leave everything. If there are issues, let’s discuss them there.”

This disagreement shows the growing divisions in the opposition group over the leadership process, especially with the current minority leader expected to leave soon.

Earlier, a member against Mr Ugochinyere’s endorsement told PREMIUM TIMES that talks were still ongoing, and no final decision had been made.

“We are working with the speaker to round off everything this weekend, then a new leadership will emerge next week, by God’s grace. He said the endorsement campaign stemmed from dissatisfaction with the outgoing minority leadership.

“The truth is that the whole National Assembly members are not happy, so it’s a gang-up against the leadership,” he said.

He also mentioned that fears about an imposed successor after the current leadership’s exit may have sped up Mr Ugochinyere’s supporters’ push for endorsements.

“Now, why they did this, he is thinking that Kingsley Chinda has left, maybe the leadership will just come and impose somebody, which is not so,” he said.

Thursday’s clash has shown the divisions within the opposition and the challenges in finding a consensus candidate for the important minority leadership role in the House of Representatives.