Former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso
New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has distanced itself from reports linking the party to Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s plans to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), clarifying that the move is strictly a personal decision by the former presidential candidate and his Kwankwasiya Movement.
The National Secretary of NNPP, Dr. Ogini Olaposi, made this clarification through a statement issued on Monday in Lagos.
Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor and the NNPP’s presidential flag bearer in the 2023 elections, had announced on Saturday that he and his loyalists were prepared to align with the ruling APC. However, he noted that his group “will not allow itself to be used to win elections and then abandoned afterwards.”
Responding to the development, Dr. Olaposi asserted that Kwankwaso’s declaration proves he no longer represents the NNPP.
“At last we have been vindicated. All negotiations by any party with Kwankwaso should be done on his individual capacity,” he stated.
According to Olaposi, the expulsion of the Kwankwasiya group for anti-party activities marked the beginning of a new chapter for the NNPP.
“Our party will now rest from the Movement’s resistance after they were expelled for anti-party activities,” he added.
“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 an alliance with the APC or any other party, it will be a collective decision.”
He further explained that the agreement between the Kwankwasiya Movement and the NNPP formally ended after the 2023 general election.
“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,” he remarked.
Dr. Olaposi also pointed out that Kwankwaso currently lacks a solid political platform, alleging that many of his Kano supporters had already defected to 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,” he said.
He warned that anyone engaging with Kwankwaso should understand that such discussions are not on behalf of the NNPP.
“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,” he emphasized. “Any negotiation in the name of NNPP is null and void because they remain expelled from our party.”
Dr. Olaposi also expressed concern over the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) delay in uploading the names of the party’s new leadership, which was established through a court-sanctioned convention that produced the Dr. Agbo Major-led executive
