Reps Minority Leader Row Deepens as Agbese Denies Backing Ugochinyere, Alleges Forged Signature

A heated exchange erupted in the House of Representatives on Thursday after Philip Agbese, the lawmaker representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency of Benue State, denied endorsing Ikenga Ugochinyere for the position of Minority Leader and alleged that his signature was forged on a nomination document.

Raising a point of privilege during plenary, Agbese told the House that his legislative rights had been violated by the alleged misuse of his signature.

“I feel that my legislative privilege has been breached because this amounts to forgery for my signature to be used for purposes for which it was not intended,” he said.

Agbese also rejected reports circulating on social media alleging that lawmakers received financial inducements to support a candidate for the opposition leadership position.

“My constituents have been calling me. I have not received any amount of money from anybody, and I will not do so. This is my integrity,” he stated.

Responding to the concerns, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen assured the House that the matter would be addressed and announced a closed-door meeting with all minority members scheduled for 2 p.m.

“We will take action on the issue you have raised in due course. However, I want to again bring to the attention of all minority members that I am inviting every minority member of this House to a closed-door meeting today by 2 p.m. so that we can discuss further,” the Speaker said.

However, Ugochinyere dismissed the allegation as false, insisting that Agbese personally signed the nomination document in the presence of witnesses.

Describing the forgery claim as “a treacherous lie,” the Imo lawmaker said he was prepared to present witnesses who were present during the signing.

As tensions rose on the floor, Speaker Abbas intervened and urged lawmakers to suspend further debate on the matter pending discussions at the scheduled opposition caucus meeting.

The controversy intensified when another lawmaker called for Ugochinyere’s claim of being elected by opposition members to be expunged from the House records, arguing that only the minority caucus has the constitutional authority to determine and officially communicate its leadership to the House.

The dispute follows reports that Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato North/Ideato South Federal Constituency of Imo State, had emerged as the preferred candidate of opposition lawmakers for the Minority Leader position.

A coalition of 61 lawmakers from various opposition parties reportedly endorsed his nomination in a letter dated June 3, 2026, and addressed to Speaker Abbas.

The coalition said Ugochinyere’s nomination reflected the preference of the majority of opposition members in the House. The signatories were drawn from several parties, including the Action Peoples Party (APP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Accord Party, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ugochinyere, who defected from the PDP to the APP earlier this year, is expected to succeed Kingsley Chinda, the former Minority Leader, who recently left the opposition bloc after emerging as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.

The latest development has exposed growing divisions within the opposition caucus as lawmakers continue to battle over the process of selecting the House's next minority leadership.