By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
Following the purported expulsion of the National leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, by a breakaway group, the National Working Committee (NWC) yesterday insisted that there is no factions in the party, even as it described those behind the purported suspension as empty barons.
Addressing Journalists at the party Secretariat in Abuja, acting National chairman, Abba Kawu Ali maintained that the suspended members do not have the constitutional powers to expel Senator Kwankwaso.
He said, “We wish to reiterate that our NWC is intact, except the former National Publicity Secretary alongside with his cohorts, who have been expelled by a properly constituted National Executive Committee (NEC).
“All our State Chairmen (37) and other MEMBERS of the NEC. The NNPP, since the dissolution of the Board of Trustees (BOT) in 2022 publicly in the presence of INEC and the Media, has not constituted a new Board. The BOT is not what one person can sit in one corner to constitute.”
On his part, Oladipo Johnson, the National Auditor and Chairman, of the Disciplinary Committee of the party, in a speech, said that it will not waste its time, answering the question relating to the expulsion of the former Kano State Governor.
“As you are aware some members of NNPP, based on allegations of anti-Party activities during the 2023 General elections, were properly investigated and sanctions applied in line with the letters of our Constitution. About Ten (10) of them, along with Dr. Boniface Aneibonam and our former National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Gilbert Major Agbo gathered in Apapa, Lagos and claimed to have dissolved the properly constituted National Working Committee (NWC) of the Party.
“For the record, this present NWC was constituted and inaugurated in April 2022 for a period of four (4) years at a ceremony witnessed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The process of removing member(s) of the NWC is very clear in our Constitution and no organ of the Party has the power to dissolve the NWC, not even the Board of Trustees which is yet to be formally constituted.
“The results of our investigations have made it very clear that some external forces, scared of the 2027 elections, are behind these recalcitrant persons and their shenanigans and their main target no doubt is His Excellency, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso Ph.D., FNSE.
“We as a Party are aware of their engagements and their plans. We know their limitations according to the Statutes (NNPP Constitution, Electoral Act, INEC Guidelines, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as Amended), but since their mission, in collaboration with our detractors from outside the party is to create confusion and distraction, the Party, as a law abiding organisation that believes in the rule of law, decided to approach the courts to put a stop to their evil machinations of disrupting our well laid down programmes for subsequent elections.
“To this end, the NNPP as a PARTY approached the Court to help restore sanity in the polity. It is an open secret that these former members are not backed by law in all they are doing. The arrow heads of this onslaught have ceased to be members of the PARTY by virtue of their suspension/expulsion.
“We wish to reiterate that our NWC is intact, except the former National Publicity Secretary alongside with his cohorts, who have been expelled by a properly constituted National Executive Committee (NEC).”
In a related development, Prof. Rufai Ahmed, the immediate past National Chairman of NNPP has resigned from the party.
Rufai, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said he decided to quit “after consulting widely”.
Rufai’s action is considered by observers as a huge blow to the party that has been hit by a major crisis.
The former national chairman, who resigned from the top job on 31 March, said he had offered to step aside to give the group an opportunity to move ahead by injecting people with new ideas.
“When I resigned from being national chairman, I wanted the NNPP to move fast and consolidate on the indisputable gains made in the 2023 general elections and prepare for future polls.”
