Faisal Salisu DambattaThe factional National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Dr Agbo Major, has said that the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, does not have a say in its alliances ahead of 2027.
Major was reacting to Kwankwaso’s speech at a meeting of his Kwankwasiyya group on Thursday in Abuja, where he announced that the NNPP is open to alliances in 2027.
The controversy and tussle over the NNPP leadership has continued to linger, with the party writing to INEC to be decisive on the matter of effecting changes in its records.
While Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiyya Movement continue to claim ownership of the party, the Major-led national executive insists that the Memorandum of Understanding with the movement ended after the 2023 general elections and that Kwankwaso and his group had been expelled for alleged anti-party activities.
Major said in a statement on Friday in Lagos that the National Executive Council, NEC, meeting convened by the Kwankwasiyya Movement in Abuja on Thursday, in the name of the NNPP, was null and void.
He said decisions from the meeting could not alter the resolutions of the party or the judgments of the Abia and Federal Capital Territory high courts on the NNPP leadership.
“Aside from the obvious betrayal of trust, we regret that Kwankwaso has continued to use the NNPP name to make negotiations and comments that may cause unrest in the country.
“The recent statement by Kwankwaso accusing the Federal Government of neglecting the North in projects is a classical example,” he said.
The national chairman said the NNPP was still awaiting INEC’s reply to its letter demanding that the commission upload the new leadership of the party, which emanated from a court-ordered convention.
“Any Nigerian entering into any alliance with Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiyya group on the basis of the NNPP will be doing so at their own risks.
“Our party is open to every Nigerian and shall provide equal opportunities for aspirants to undergo mandatory primaries.
“We shall not allow betrayals of our ticket again as we did in 2023.
“NNPP is not closed to alliance with sister political parties if there is need but it must not be for the purposes of fighting a personal vendetta.
“It is our hope that INEC as a federal institution should understand the essence of rule of law and order in a civil society and do the needful,” Major added.
