The National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Agbo Major, has reaffirmed that the faction led by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso remains expelled from the party.
PUNCH Online reports that the Kwankwaso faction rejected Tuesday’s convention, which saw Major elected as the new National Chairman.
The faction dismissed the convention held in Lagos as illegitimate, insisting that Dr. Ajuji Ahmed remains the party’s rightful National Chairman.
Speaking on behalf of the group, the party’s Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, described Major’s faction as a renegade group.
However, addressing a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, Major maintained that the convention was legal and backed by a recent court ruling.
He said, “The Abia High Court judgment of November 1, 2024, unequivocally directed INEC to recognize our party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), led by Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam, pending the resolution of all legal matters.
The same judgment mandated the BoT to activate all party organs, in line with the NNPP Constitution (2022 as amended), to ensure seamless operations.
“In full compliance with this ruling, all necessary communications were made with INEC, and the congresses began on January 13, 2024, at the ward level, followed by local government, state, and zonal levels.
“The national convention, originally scheduled for January 22, 2025, was temporarily halted due to an interim order from an FCT High Court. However, after the order lapsed, the convention was concluded on February 4, 2025, at Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos.”
Major highlighted key resolutions from the convention, including the ratification of all congresses from ward to zonal levels, the formal expulsion of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and the Kwankwassiya group, a review of the party’s finances, and the rejection of the proposed new logo in favor of the previous one featuring a basket of fruits on the Nigerian map.
“The convention affirmed the expulsion of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Buba Galadima, and the entire Kwankwassiya group following the expiration of the Memorandum of Understanding that brought them into the party. It also saw the election of a new National Working Committee, led by me as the National Chairman,” Major stated.
He added that the Dr. Aniebonam-led BoT had completed its assignment as directed by the Abia High Court and submitted all relevant documents to INEC. He urged the commission to update its records accordingly.
“We once again call on the remaining members of the Kwankwassiya group to peacefully exit our party, as their leaders have already done,” Major concluded.
