The leadership of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has said the party’s former presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is an expelled member of the party.
The party leadership also said Governor Abba Yusuf’s suspension remains valid until the end of January.
Naija News reports that the National Secretary of NNPP, Ogini Olaposi, stated this on Monday, in an interview with News Central.
“Senator Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso is an expelled member of the New Nigerian People’s Party. He has been expelled from this party and the Governor is under suspension. He’s under suspension as a member of the New Nigerian People’s Party. We’ve written a letter to him to inform him of his suspension. It was well publicized. Because all what he is following Kwankwanso to do is not in tenet with the objective of the founding fathers of this party (sic),” he said.
NNPP Not Kwankwaso’s Group
The party’s National Secretary accused Senator Kwankwaso of turning the party into a personal group.
He explained that Kano State Governor, Yusuf’s suspension was supposed to end in December, but the party gave him an extended suspension by one month to see if he would change.
Olaposi said Governor Yusuf must retrace his steps and follow the party’s founding missions.
“The party is not a Kwankwanso group. It’s a political party with everybody coming aboard to make sure that we have a new Nigeria. So all what he’s trying to follow Kwankwanso to do in Kano is anti-democratic and is not part of the tenet of the New Nigerian People’s Party. It’s not the new Nigeria of our dream. So, therefore, he’s under suspension. Or he’ll retrace his step. And he still wants to continue to follow Kwankwanso without retracing his step. Then we know the next thing to be done for him.
“Yes, officially, we gave him six months that lasted until December 31st. But the leadership of the party said, in lieu of fair hearing, let us give him another extra one month, which will expire at the end of January. That if he fails to do what is right, because even the congress in Kano has been concluded, and new leadership already there, he himself is aware of the kind of new people that are joining our party in Kano State. They know that people are now running and throwing away this red cap, which they are still parading, which is just like a cultist group. We want a Nigeria that is new; Nigeria that will accommodate everybody (sic),” he explained.
Kwankwaso Is A Liability; His Exit Is A Blessing
Reacting to whether the suspension of the former Minister of Defence would not affect the party’s chances in the election, Olaposi claimed the former Kano governor was a liability.
He accused him of limiting the chances of the party in the last 2023 general election.
According to him, Senator Kwankwaso’s exit from the party was a blessing. He alleged that Kwankwaso planned to change the party’s logo without recourse to the mission of the founding fathers of the party.
“Kwankwanso is more of a liability than asset to the New Nigeria People’s Party. He is a liability because, even in the last 2013 general election, he prevented other potential presidential candidates from joining our party.
“The exit of Kwankwanso for NNPP is a blessing to us. And also in Kano, as I’m speaking, there are a lot of people that are jostling to have the tickets of NNPP to contest.
“So, it is an albatross for him. He is coming down every day. How dare him to come and start that he wants to change the logo of the party to his secondary school logo. It’s an aberration, it’s an insult to the personality and intelligence of all Nigeria. So, for him to think that he had the capacity to steal the intellectual capability of another person, intellectual property of another person, it’s never done. And we are saying it loud and clear that the exit of Kwankwanso from New Nigeria People’s Party is going to be a big blessing.
“It’s a blessing because Kwankwanso is more of a liability than a blessing to us. We only want the governor to retrace his steps. Lots of people have warned him, and that was the reason why they keep on sacking the SSG, some commissioners in Kano, because they are telling the truth of the power, that the governor needs to assert himself and make sure that he does what is right in tenets with the objectives and the manifesto of New Nigeria People’s Party (sic),” he added.