NNPP Distances Self From Kwankwaso, Backs Gov Yusuf As leader

A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Alhaji Sani Danmasani, has said that Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, is the national leader of the party not former governor and ex-presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Danmasani, who is the NNPP National Vice Chairman (North-West), said in a statement on Tuesday that by the party’s constitution, Yusuf is its leader as the only sitting governor elected on the NNPP platform.

He explained that Kwankwaso’s leadership role ended after the 2023 election when the Memorandum of Association between the NNPP and the Kwankwasiyya Movement expired.

He added that Kwankwaso and some members of the movement were later expelled from the party for alleged anti-party activities.

Danmasani criticised continued media references to Kwankwaso as NNPP leader, saying it had led to confusion and unauthorised political negotiations being conducted in the party’s name.

He stressed that only the party’s founder, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, and the National Executive Committee led by Dr Agbo Gilbert are authorised to negotiate on behalf of the NNPP.

“Kwankwaso and his group are free as Nigerian citizens to negotiate with any political party, but not as members or representatives of the NNPP,” he said.

He also urged the media to refer to Kwankwaso strictly as a former senator, former Kano governor and the NNPP’s 2023 presidential candidate, but not its leader.