NNPP Disowns Kwankwaso Over APC Defection Plan
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has distanced itself from Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s plan to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that the move is strictly personal to him and his Kwankwasiya Movement.
National Secretary of the NNPP, Dr Ogini Olaposi, clarified the party’s position on Monday in Lagos.
Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor and NNPP’s 2023 presidential candidate, had on Saturday announced that he and his supporters were ready to join the ruling APC, though he warned that his group would not allow itself to be used and dumped after elections.
Reacting, Olaposi said the declaration confirmed that Kwankwaso and his movement were never part of the NNPP.
“At last, we have been vindicated. All negotiations by any party with Kwankwaso should be done in his individual capacity. Our party will now rest from the Movement’s resistance after they were expelled for anti-party activities,” he said.
He added that the NNPP had no problem with the APC but any alliance ahead of the 2027 elections would be collectively decided by its members.
“For now, we are putting our house in order ahead of elections nationwide after the crisis and litigations that Kwankwaso and his followers brought to the NNPP,” Olaposi stated.
According to him, the Memorandum of Understanding between the NNPP and the Kwankwasiya Movement ended after the 2023 election.
“The crisis began because, rather than leave peacefully, they began to plan to hijack the party. We can’t wait to see them at another party,” he added.
Olalposi also declared that Kwankwaso no longer had a political platform, stressing that most of his loyalists in Kano had already defected to the APC.
“Kwankwaso has no political party. His political value dipped after betraying the NNPP, which gave him a free platform for his presidential ambition, and when the strategic members of the movement joined the ruling party. Nigerians who negotiate with Kwankwaso and his group should know that it is his right as a citizen, but not as a member of the NNPP. Any negotiation in the name of NNPP is null and void because they remain expelled from our party,” he said.
He also criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for delaying the upload of NNPP’s new executive after a court-ordered convention that produced the Dr Agbo Major-led leadership.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
