Kwankwaso Suspended For Alleged Anti-Party Activities 

The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has suspended its candidate in the Feb. 25 presidential election, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso for alleged anti party activities.

The party’s National Working Committee (NWC) was likewise put on indefinite hiatus by the Board of Trustees. It also named new national offices headed by Dr. Agbo Major as acting National Chairman and Mr. Ogini Olaposi as acting National secretary, among 18 others.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the suspension lasts for six months. At the party’s special general assembly, which took place at the Rockview Hotels in Apapa, the suspensions were submitted to a voice vote by party members, according to NAN.

NAN cites the NWC’s announcement on Thursday, August 24, that Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, the party’s founder, and Major, the national publicity secretary, had been suspended.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting in Lagos on Tuesday, Secretary of the BoT, Babayo Muhammed Abdulahi, accused Kwankwaso of hobnobbing with President Bola Tinubu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, without the board’s authorization.

Abdullahi announced that Kwankwaso had been stripped of NNPP national leader status by the board. The secretary of the BoT said the purported suspension of the NNPP founder was a flagrant and gross violation of the party’s constitution.

He pointed out that Aniebonam had resigned as the BoT chairman and a new BoT Chairman, Dr Chief Tope Aluko was elected with Abdulahi as new BoT Secretary, while High Chief Tony Obioha was elected as BoT spokesperson.

Abdulahi said the pre-election Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Kwankwasia Movement, The National Movement (TNM) and National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) had been rendered void by the actions of the NWC.

Abdulahi said: “The purported suspension of the founder is a flagrant gross violation of the NNPP constitution such that it is tantamount to recklessness and irresponsibility on the part of the incompetent NWC.

“The BoT decided that material evidence in the public sector affirmed that Kwankwaso was involved in anti-party activities in various meetings, suggest political discussions with the President, Atiku and Obi without authorisation from the board.

” This has earned him six months suspension pending the outcome of investigation by the Disciplinary Committee.

“The BOT insisted that the avoidable violation of MoU between NNPP on the one part and Kwankwasia, TNM and NAGAFF on the other has no other choice than to withdraw from the partnership.

“It is therefore to state clearly that the MOU have been rendered void.”

Also speaking, the acting chairman said his team would hit the ground running by healing the wounds created by the suspended NWC members. Major said the party would remain the most ordinary friendly party in the country and urged other members that are displaced for one reason or the other to return to its fold.

“We don’t intend to shut anybody out or censor anybody but we want to ensure that we remain on track and maintain our people oriented ideology,” he said.

NAN reports that the special general assembly meeting was attended by the new NWC and members from across the country.