The House of Representatives on Wednesday, 10 June 2026 announced a new slate of Principal Officers for the Minority Parties, following the withdrawal by Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere (APP: Imo) of his bid for the position of Minority Leader.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen (APC: Kaduna), announced the following members as Principal Officers of the Minority Parties:

• Hon. Frederick Y. Agbedi (PDP: Bayelsa) – Minority Leader
• Hon. Abdusammad Dasuki (ADC: Sokoto) – Deputy Minority Leader
• Hon. Manu Soro Mansur (APM: Bauchi) – Minority Whip

The reordering of the minority leadership followed the defection of the former Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP: Rivers), from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Hon. Chinda did not publicly declare his defection until after he secured the APC governorship ticket for Rivers State. His departure left the position of Minority Leader open and prompted Hon. Ugochinyere to indicate interest in the office.

The contest was affected by the eligibility criteria set out in Order Seven, Rule 15 of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, which provides that only members with cognate legislative experience as Members of the House of Representatives shall be eligible for appointment as Principal Officers of the House. The House considered a motion sponsored by Hon. Babajimi Benson (APC: Lagos) seeking to define the term “cognate legislative experience.”

Moving the motion, Hon. Benson noted that global parliamentary best practices exclude first-term parliamentarians from holding Principal Offices, reserving such positions for experienced legislators in order to promote institutional memory and continuity. He further noted that the 10th Senate had recently defined “cognate legislative experience” to mean senators who have completed at least one full four-year term. The House resolved to define “cognate legislative experience” under Order Seven, Rule 15 as meaning members who have completed at least one full four-year term, and to state that no other definition of the term applies.

The adoption of the definition set an eligibility threshold of at least one completed four-year term for appointment as a Principal Officer. Hon. Ugochinyere subsequently withdrew his bid for the position of Minority Leader, paving the way for the announcement of the new Principal Officers of the Minority Parties.