The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has denied rumors that former presidential candidate Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf have been suspended or expelled, stating that they are still party members.
Ladipo Johnson, the party’s national publicity secretary, stated this in a Monday interview with News Central.
He emphasized that the only group with the power to speak for the NNPP is the one headed by Dr. Ajuji Ahmed and approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“That party has not expelled or suspended Abba Kabir Yusuf or Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso,” Johnson stated.
“A party recognized by the Constitution and the Electoral Act must be the one registered by INEC. So, those making contrary claims are not a party but a group, whatever you want to call them.”
The clarification comes amid the NNPP’s ongoing leadership turmoil, in which various factions have made contradictory statements regarding important members.
Johnson reaffirmed that the party’s rightful authority is still the INEC-recognized leadership.
“INEC, for the sake of argument, recognizes the NNPP led by Dr. Ajuji Ahmed as chairman and myself, Ladipo Johnson, as publicity secretary. That is what is recognized by law today,” he emphasized.
He went on to discuss the origins of the internal problem, pointing out that one of the party’s founders, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, tried to overrule the National Working Committee’s (NWC) rulings.
“We got to a stage where Dr. Aniebonam said, ‘I am the founder, and I am overruling the decisions of the NEC or NWC.’ And we said, no, and suspended him. Even Kwankwaso did not know he was going to be suspended, as it were. So that is how we got to this problem,” Johnson revealed.
