By Muhammad Mamman
The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has formally disavowed former presidential candidate and ex-Kano State governor Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, intensifying internal party rifts amid a growing political controversy in Nigeria. 
In a statement issued by the party’s national leadership over the weekend, the NNPP said it “sets the record straight” that Kwankwaso should not be linked with allegations relating to an alleged 2019 visit to Supreme Court judges involving Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, now of the All Progressives Congress (APC). 
The statement, signed by the NNPP National Secretary Comrade Oginni Olaposi Sunday, emphasised that Kwankwaso was not a member of the party in 2019 when the purported Supreme Court incident occurred and therefore any suggestion the party was involved was misleading and incorrect. 
According to the NNPP, Kwankwaso only joined the party months before the 2023 general elections alongside several political figures, including Governor Yusuf, and was never a founding member of the party. The leadership also accused him of attempting to appropriate party symbols and identities to promote his Kwankwasiyya movement without proper authorisation. 
Reiterating its position, the party said Kwankwaso had been expelled for gross misconduct shortly after the 2023 polls and should no longer be addressed as its national leader. The statement added that ongoing investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja relate to the issues surrounding the fallout. 
The NNPP also called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to remove the party’s name from any petitions submitted to police or security agencies that reference the controversy. 
Kwankwaso’s political standing has already been in flux, with recent conflicts including Governor Yusuf’s defection from the party and disagreements within the Kwankwasiyya faction, highlighting broader tensions within the NNPP ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle. 
