Kwankwaso Remains The Face Of NNPP, Can’t Be Removed – NNPP

• The party’s activities were dissolved in the presence of INEC officials, as per the constitution
• The former BoT Chairman began issuing letters re-instating those punished, a power he did not possess, and attempts to dissuade him were unsuccessful

The New Nigeria Peoples Party’s (NNPP) National Executive Committee, NEC, has proclaimed that Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 election, will continue to be its public face and will not be removed from the organisation by any group or individual.

The claims made by a faction of the party that Senator Kwankwaso committed anti-party crimes after his meetings with President Bola Tinubu, former Vice President, and the candidates for president of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, and the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, were made by the NEC, and they were laughable because he led the national caucus in all the meetings.

Addressing journalists yesterday during a meeting with the National Working Committee and NNPP State Chairmen at the party’s secretariat in Abuja, Mallam Kawu Ali, who is the national chairman of the Kwankwaso-backed NNPP, insisted that the Dr. Boniface Aniebonam-led board of trustees of the party has not been properly constituted and lacked the powers to suspend Senator Kwankwaso.

Spokesman of the presidential campaign council and national auditor of the party, Ladipo Johnson

Johnson read the speech on behalf of Mallam Kawu Ali, who is the national chairman of the Kwankwaso-backed NNPP, just as they described all actions taken by the Agbo Major-led faction of the party as illegal and inconsequential.

Babayo Muhammed Abdullahi, speaking at the instance of the Major-led faction, stripped Kwankwaso of his national leader status for allegedly engaging in political discussions with President Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) without the board’s authorization.

Speaking further, Johnson, who described those who purportedly suspended Senator Kwankwaso as jokers, said, “These so-called chairmen are no longer a part of the party.

“The former BoT Chairman started issuing letters re-instating those punished. A power he didn’t have, and efforts made to make him desist from that act were proven to be futile.

“The NWC was left with no choice but to invoke the law on him. During the meeting of the NWC on August 24, both the former BoT Chairman and the erstwhile National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Gilbert Major Agbo, were suspended for 3 months pending investigations into the allegations against them.

“As of March 1st, 2022, the then National Executive Committee of the party met on the 28th of February 2023, where all the organs of the party met.”

According to the constitution, those charged with the responsibilities of running the activities of the party were all dissolved in the presence of INEC officials.

“The party was being run by an imaginary NWC of the then National Secretary, Dr. Gilbert Major Ago, and National Chairman, Dr. Boniface Ani Lagos. The National Secretary was the all-rounder, doing everything in Abuja, even inserting the signature of the National Chairman, Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam, into documents because he was in Lagos. That was the structure the TNM met on ground.”

“It is laughable that some people have reduced politics and party administration to a huge joke, and also, creating certain powers for himself is not acceptable in a democracy.

The NNPP acting national chairman, Alhaji Abba Kawu, traced the crisis rocking the party to moves by the leadership to restructure it and make it more viable.

Ali argued: “Is it not funny that all those people either suspended or expelled would gather somewhere and claim to have suspended His Excellency, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Ph.D., FNSE, and also dissolve the NWC?

“The jokers also appointed a CTC made up of those people who have ceased to be members of the party by virtue of our Constitution. Was INEC at the meeting? Did they write INEC?

“Who and who signed the letter? Is it not laughable that Major Agbo, who announced the suspension of the former chairmen, the expulsion of two of them, and the dissolution of some of the states, is now purportedly “heading” their caretaker committee?

“It is just unfortunate that some people have reduced politics and party administration to a huge joke. The news that one person will sit somewhere and arrogate certain powers to himself is not permissible in a democracy.

We are using this medium to assure our supporters all over the country that there is no substance in the story. His Excellency, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, remains the face of the party; he has not been suspended, and the NWC under Malam Abba Kawu Ali remains intact.”