The crisis gripping the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) appears to have no end in sight, as a group inside the party removed the NNPP flag candidate for the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Tuesday.
The faction lead by NNPP chieftains Boniface Aniebonam and Agbo Major suspended Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor who finished fourth in this year’s presidential race.
At a special general assembly held at the Rockview Hotels in the Apapa region of Lagos State, the group led by Aniebonam and Major suspended Kwankwaso.
The group said “material evidence” in public affirmed that Kwankwaso was involved in “anti-party activities in various meetings” and political discussions with President Bola Tinubu, then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC); his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar; and Labour Party (LP)’s Peter Obi.
The group said Kwankwaso’s political hobnobbing earned him six months suspension pending the outcome of investigation by a disciplinary committee.
The Aniebonam and Major group, which controls NNPP Board of Trustees, also suspended the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
In a communique released at the end of the meeting of the party members in Lagos, Aniebonam resigned as BoT Chairman with Tope Aluko elected as his replacement and Babayo Abdulahi as new BoT Secretary.
The Aniebonam group declared the NWC as “incompetent and due to attrition and failure of the members to follow the constitution and due process in filling of the vacant positions, the NWC can no longer perform its role and is no longer relevant in the eyes of the law”.
The group that met in Lagos “take strong exception to Buba Galadima’s parading of himself as BoT Secretary. This conduct is in violation of the composition of the members of the BOT in accordance with our constitution”.
The communique partly read, “The appointment of new national officers headed by Dr. Agbo Major as acting National Chairman and Comrade Ogini Olaposi as acting National Secretary with about 18 others were affirmed by the BoT.
Kwankwaso’s Group Expels Aniebonam, Major
However, in a swift reaction, the Kwankwaso group within the party convened a “NEC meeting” in Abuja also on Tuesday and expelled Aniebonam and Major.
The NEC also moved several other motions relating to the logo of the party, the amendment of the constitution, ratification of the state caretaker committees, and suspension of two Articles in the constitution of the NNPP 2022.
The Abuja group declared the decision of the Lagos group as “null and void and to no effect”.
The meeting of the Abuja group was attended by the Governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf; as well as other party stalwarts such as Kawu Ismaila, Buba Galadima.