NNPP Denies El-Rufai’s Claim Of Tinubu Govt’s Involvement In Party Crisis, Demands Retraction Within 48 Hours
Oginni asked El-Rufai to retract his statement within 48 hours or face legal action for defamation against the NNPP leadership.
The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has refuted ex-Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai’s claim that the Bola Tinubu government was behind the internal crisis within the party, including the expulsion of its 2023 presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and the suspension of Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf.
In a statement issued in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the party’s National Secretary, Oginni Sunday, dismissed El-Rufai’s allegations as “the cry of a drowning man.”
He described the former governor’s claims as unfounded and accused him of making baseless remarks.
Oginni asked El-Rufai to retract his statement within 48 hours or face legal action for defamation against the NNPP leadership.
El-Rufai, who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), alleged that the APC-led federal government engineered crises in the NNPP, Labour Party (LP), and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Reacting to the allegation, Oginni stated, “The ranting of the former Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai on the expulsion of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and the suspension of Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State from NNPP is a cry of a drowning man.”
He continued, “It is unfortunate that El-Rufai, who has just decamped from the APC to SDP, was seen making unfounded allegations against the leadership of NNPP, alleging sponsorship of the expulsion of Kwankwaso and the suspension of Governor Yusuf by the federal government.”
Oginni questioned whether the federal government was responsible for Kwankwaso’s decision to seek the NNPP platform in 2022.
“Was it the federal government that asked Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to go to Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam in February 2022, to prostrate and beg for NNPP’s platform in the company of Buba Galadima, Senator Hunkuyi, and others to contest as the presidential candidate in 2023?” he asked.
He further alleged that during the buildup to the 2023 elections, Kwankwaso relocated the NNPP situation room to his residence, where “lots of atrocities were committed while uploading candidates’ names to the INEC portal.”
“Was it the federal government that asked Kwankwaso and his now expelled members of the National Working Committee to embezzle all the money received from the sales of nomination forms and donations for the party for the 2023 Election?” Oginni queried.
He also asked whether the federal government was responsible for the EFCC petition against Kwankwaso over an alleged N2.5 billion fraud or the illegal convention that led to changes in the NNPP logo and colours.
SaharaReporters reported on Tuesday that El-Rufai accused President Tinubu’s government of orchestrating and funding the ongoing crises in opposition parties, including LP, PDP, and NNPP.
El-Rufai, who recently defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), made the allegation in a video seen by SaharaReporters on Tuesday.
He spoke at the office of his new party, claiming that the internal conflicts rocking the opposition were being deliberately fueled by the federal government to weaken them ahead of future elections.
“The crisis that… is facing in the Labour Party is contrived and funded by the government of the day. Everyone knows it,” El-Rufai declared.
He accused the ruling party of using legal battles as a tool to destabilise opposition leadership.
“Jumping from one court to another is all designed to distract the party leadership from focusing on their own functions,” he said.
According to El-Rufai, the same strategy is being applied to other opposition parties, including the PDP and the NNPP, where factional disputes have intensified in recent months.
“The same thing is happening in the PDP. Even in the NNPP. There are people that have been resourced to go and cause problems in NNPP,” he alleged.
The former governor pointed to the recent internal crisis within the NNPP, where a faction of the party reportedly expelled its leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
“The last thing I read about 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 the only governor they have,” he queried.
El-Rufai, however, admitted that he lacked full details about the alleged government interference but insisted that the pattern of events suggested deliberate political sabotage.
“I don’t have the details. I cannot mention names because I don’t have the details,” he added.
