NNPP Rejects Kwankwaso’s Claims, Says Exit Was Due to Internal Party Dispute

|By Chinwendu Nwani

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has rejected claims by its 2023 presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, that external forces were responsible for his exit from the party.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the party described the remarks as misleading and maintained that the developments leading to his departure were internal.

NNPP founder, Boniface Aniebonam, said Kwankwaso’s exit, alongside some of his associates, resulted from internal disagreements within the party.

According to Aniebonam, the situation was linked to an alleged attempt by Kwankwaso and allies, including Buba Galadima and Ahmed Ajuji, to take control of the party’s structure.

He stated that the crisis within the NNPP stemmed from internal struggles rather than external interference.

“Your exit is never driven by external forces. Kwankwaso has always been his own personal problem. The exit of Kwankwaso and others was not influenced externally but by his intense bid to take over a party he did not register,” Aniebonam said.

He also accused the former candidate of attributing political setbacks to outside forces, linking recent developments in the party to internal management issues.

Aniebonam referenced the defection of Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as part of the fallout from the party’s internal challenges.

He added that the expulsion of Kwankwaso and Galadima had been upheld by the courts, noting that disputes escalated following alleged attempts to alter the party’s structure and identity.

According to him, the Memorandum of Association between the NNPP and the Kwankwasiyya Movement was intended solely for the 2023 general elections, which provided Kwankwaso with the platform to contest the presidency.