The national leadership of the New Nigeria People’s Party has criticised Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State, for claiming that the party was sponsored by the federal government in connection with the suspension of Abba Yusuf, the governor of Kano, and the expulsion of Rabiu Kwankwaso, its previous presidential candidate.
In a statement provided to our journalist on Wednesday, Oginni Olaposi, the National Secretary of the NNPP, rejected El-Rufai’s assertions as a last-ditch effort to divert attention from the pressing problems.
El-Rufai, who recently left the All Progressives Congress for the Social Democratic Party, had claimed that the litigation and internal conflicts roiling the nation’s opposition groups were being orchestrated by the Federal Government.
The former governor of Kaduna explicitly cited the NNPP’s efforts against Yusuf and Kwankwaso as being a part of a broader political plot.
“The last thing I read about the NNPP was that one faction of the party has expelled Kwankwaso and the sitting governor.
“When you see things like that, you will know it is a contrived crisis. Which party sacks a sitting governor? And that is the only governor they have. I cannot mention names because I don’t have the details,” he said.
The national secretary of the NNPP responded by calling for El-Rufai to retract his remarks and issue a public apology within 48 hours.
Olaposi asked a number of questions, asserting that the accusations of federal meddling were unfounded and that Kwankwaso had run for the NNPP platform in 2022 and that internal leadership conflicts, not outside meddling, were the true cause of the problems.
He also claimed that Kwankwaso and his supporters had disregarded internal party procedures intended to settle disagreements, undermining the party’s ability to function.
He added, “To set the record straight and to educate Mallam Nasir El Rufai on the genesis and revelations of the crisis that led to the expulsion of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and the subsequent suspension of Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State, we shall ask Mallam Nasir El Rufai to ask his friend (Kwankwaso) to answer some of the following questions before the allegations of interference or sponsorship by the Federal Government can be substantiated.
“Was it the Federal Government that asked Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to go to Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam in February 2022 to beg for the NNPP platform? Was it the Federal Government that orchestrated the illegal change of the NNPP logo to that of Kwankwaso’s private school and his Kwankwasia group?
“The Federal Government had no role in the internal workings of our party. Kwankwaso and his cohorts are responsible for the crisis.”
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While demanding an apology from El-Rufai, Olaposi threatened that the party would take legal action against the former governor if the apology was not issued within the stipulated 48-hour period.
“Consequently, we are calling on Mallam Nasir El Rufai to publicly tender an unreserved apology to the Founder of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Dr Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam, and the party leadership on the unfortunate allegation of sponsorship by the federal government.
“We are giving Mallam Nasir El Rufai the next 48 hours to tender his apology for his reckless statement or face prosecution for a defamatory statement against the innocent leaders of the New Nigeria People’s Party,” he noted.
