In a statement on Monday in Lagos, Dr. Ogini Olaposi, the National Secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), clarified that Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s recent declaration about joining the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a personal decision made by the former presidential candidate and his Kwankwasiya Movement, not the party itself.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State and the NNPP’s 2023 presidential candidate, announced on Saturday that he and his supporters were ready to align with the ruling APC. He warned, however, that his movement would not tolerate being used to win elections and then abandoned.
According to Olaposi, Kwankwaso’s statement confirms that he and his movement are no longer a part of the NNPP.
“At last, we have been vindicated. All negotiations by any party with Kwankwaso should be done in his individual capacity,” Olaposi said. “Our party will now rest from the Movement’s resistance after they were expelled for anti-party activities.”
Olaposi stated that while the NNPP holds no ill will toward the APC, any future alliance ahead of the 2027 general elections would be a collective decision made by all party 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,” he added.
Olaposi explained that the Memorandum of Understanding between the Kwankwasiya Movement and the NNPP expired after the 2023 presidential election.
“The crisis began because, rather than leave peacefully, they began to plan to hijack the party,” he said. “We can’t wait to see them at another party.”
The national secretary claimed that Kwankwaso no longer has a political platform, noting that the majority of his followers in Kano joined the APC some time ago.
“Kwankwaso has no political party. His political value dipped after betraying the NNPP, which gave him a free platform for his presidential ambition,” Olaposi asserted. He warned that any negotiation conducted in the name of the NNPP by Kwankwaso and his group is “null and void” because they have been expelled from the party.
Olaposi also expressed frustration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the delay in uploading the party’s new executive list, which was established after a court-ordered convention that produced the Dr. Agbo Major-led executive.
(NAN)
