The New Nigeria People’s Party has raised concerns over an alleged attempt by former leaders to collapse its structure in support of a Peter Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso presidential ticket in the Nigeria Democratic Congress ahead of the 2027 general election.
In a swift reaction, the NDC leadership denied the allegation, saying the opposition was delusional for coming up with such an allegation.
The fresh war of words comes days after the NNPP denied reports of a secret pact to align with the NDC for an Obi-Kwankwaso joint ticket, insisting it only nominated a placeholder presidential candidate to meet electoral timelines while keeping its options open for future political alliances.
Two months ago, the immediate past National Chairman of the NNPP, Bala Yusuf, had denied the speculation that he was working with the Kwankwasiyya Movement to collapse and align the presidential and vice presidential slots for the O-K ticket in solidarity with his principal, Kwankwaso.
The former NNPP chair clarified in an interview held on the sidelines of the party’s 11th National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja.
In the past six months, the party has lost Kwankwaso and former National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, to the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
The NNPP also lost its only elected governor, Abba Yusuf of Kano State, alongside his political appointees, to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The immediate past national chairman, however, insisted that the party had not entered into any agreement with Kwankwaso or any other political party despite growing speculation that the NNPP could align with the NDC following Kwankwaso’s recent defection to the coalition platform.
The new national chairman of the NNPP, Major Agbo, however, claimed that Yusuf lied.
In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, Agbo identified and accused the Yusuf-led leadership of masterminding the move to advance what he described as the “O-K arrangement with the NDC.
Agbo said, “He lied. You don’t need a seer to tell you that was what they wanted to do if the status quo had remained the way it was before we came in. They would have eventually collapsed the entire structure into their principal’s arrangement. That’s the level of greed that is in them.
“But let’s not dissipate energy into discussing that because they are gone. We are done with them. For us, the primary responsibility of every political party is to field candidates for election.
“The way our laws are structured, you do not only need to field candidates, but you also have to win. If you don’t win, you get cancelled as a political party.”
On why the party fielded a placeholder instead of a notable candidate, the national chairman explained that the move was made solely to comply with electoral timelines after running short of time to identify stronger contenders.
“I have explained repeatedly that our decision to field a placeholder is not because we are rushing into an alliance or any form of understanding with anybody.
“But within the period that the window is available, you just have to do something, even if you have to return to it later to make one or two changes.
“But at least the most important thing is that something has to happen as long as the window for that thing is open.
“So we did that because it’s a normal thing that every other political party does. However, that is not to say that we intend to work with the ruling party or this idea of Obi-Kwankwaso.
“This party has resolved never, under any circumstance, to have anything to do with Kwankwaso, Buba Galadima and any of his jokers. It’s not possible.
“But that is not to say that we are foreclosing any chances of having any form of alliance. No party is an island. We believe in the more, the better. That has always been the position of the NNPP since it was registered in 2002,” he added.
Going down memory lane, Agbo said that, checking through all the election cycles before now, it would be observed that NNPP didn’t present candidates.
“I think in 2007 or so, we didn’t present any. In 2003, we presented Kalu Idika Kalu,” he stated.
The NNPP, however, said it remained open to political alliances ahead of the 2027 general election, stressing that it had not ruled out working with any presidential candidate whose vision aligned with the party’s manifesto and constitution.
The party added that once the window for substitution opens, it will replace the placeholder with a more formidable candidate if one emerges.
Responding, the NDC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Abdulmumin Abdulsalam, dismissed the allegation of collusion, stressing that the Seriake Dickson-led leadership had no pact with the NNPP and was not seeking any political arrangement with it.
He said, “We have no pact with the NNPP or any party, especially in the local political landscape of Kano State. The NDC is a moving train and the momentum we have at the moment is enough for us.
“We don’t need any pact. If there is a need for such, it is the other party saying they are not going into any collaboration that should be begging us for a partnership to be able to survive beyond 2027. They need it to avoid going into extinction.
“The NNPP that you just mentioned is not different from an old shirt or cloth you once put on. You are bound to discard it as you get older. So you no longer look up to it to wear it again because it’s an old cloth.
“As far as we are concerned, His Excellency Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and his teeming supporters in Kano are no longer in the party. The NNPP is his former party. It is now an old cloth which he cannot go back to wear,” he said.
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