The National Secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr. Ogini Olaposi, has said that only Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiya Movement are planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday, Olaposi explained that Kwankwaso’s weekend declaration confirmed what the party had long maintained — that the former Kano State governor was acting on his own.
AljazirahNigeria had reported that Kwankwaso, a former presidential candidate of the NNPP, announced on Saturday that he and his supporters were ready to join the APC. He, however, insisted that his political group would not allow itself to be used to win elections and later be abandoned.
Read also: Kwankwaso Declares NNPP Open To APC Talks, But On Strong Terms
Reacting to the development, Olaposi said:
“At last we have been vindicated. All negotiations by any party with Kwankwaso should be done on his individual capacity.
“Our party will now rest from the Movement’s resistance after they were expelled for anti-party activities.
“The NNPP has nothing against the ruling party and if at any point ahead of the 2027 general elections we think we should enter into alliance with APC or any other, it will be decided by all 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.”
According to him, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Kwankwasiya Movement and the NNPP ended after the 2023 presidential election.
He further remarked:
“The crisis began because rather than leave peacefully, they began to plan to hijack the party. We can’t wait to see them in another party.”
Olaposi maintained that Kwankwaso had lost political ground after his expulsion and that most of his followers in Kano had already pitched their tent with the APC.
“Kwankwaso has no political party. His political value dipped after betraying the NNPP that 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 on 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 also faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the delay in uploading the party’s new leadership produced at a court-ordered convention, which brought in the Dr. Agbo Major-led executive.
