Yusuf Resigned from Kwankwasiya Movement, Not NNPP – Party Founder

Yusuf Resigned from Kwankwasiya Movement, Not NNPP – Party Founder

By Raji Radak

The Founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, has said that Gov. Abba Yusuf of Kano State did not resign from the party but from the Kwankwasiya Movement led by Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Aniebonam made the clarification on Saturday while reacting to reports in the media that the Kano State governor had resigned from the NNPP.

In a statement, Aniebonam argued that the resignation letter attributed to the governor was not addressed to the authentic National Working Committee (NWC) of the NNPP, led by Dr Major Agbo, nor to the party’s state chairman or ward secretary.

According to him, the letter was instead addressed to a member of the Kwankwasiya Movement in Diso-Chiranchi Ward, Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State.

“The NNPP National Working Committee does not recognise the Kwankwasiya Movement ward chairman as a chairman of the party,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Gov. Yusuf was reported to have resigned from the NNPP alongside 21 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives and 44 local government chairmen.

The reported resignation was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Tofa.

Yusuf, in a letter addressed to the Chairman of Diso-Chiranchi Ward of the NNPP in Gwale Local Government Area, was quoted as formally communicating his decision to leave the party with effect from Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.

“I write with a deep sense of gratitude to formally notify the leadership of the New Nigeria People’s Party of my decision to resign my membership of the party, with effect from Friday, 23rd January 2026,” the letter read.

However, Aniebonam said the purported resignation of Yusuf and other political office holders was unknown to him in his capacity as founder, leader and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the NNPP.

“The NNPP had earlier lifted the governor’s suspension from membership and directed that he assume responsibility for the leadership of the party, being the highest elected officer of the party,” he said.

He recalled that judgments of the Abia State High Court and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court had directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and hand over the administration of the NNPP to the Aniebonam-led Board of Trustees.

According to him, the FCT High Court also issued an enrolment order restraining INEC from dealing or transacting any business with the Kwankwasiya Movement.

“The NNPP is a registered political party, whereas the Kwankwasiya Movement was merely a pressure group within the party. Its Memorandum of Association with the party was terminated, and the entire defunct NWC led by Dr Ahmed Ajuji was expelled for anti-party activities after the 2023 presidential election,” Aniebonam said.

He added that Yusuf and other elected officials in Kano won their elections on the platform of the NNPP, bearing the party’s logo of a basket of fruits, and not the Kwankwasiya insignia of a book and red colour.

Aniebonam described INEC’s delay in updating its records to reflect the Dr Agbo Major and Mr Oginni Olaposi-led NWC as an administrative lapse.

“This has nothing to do with the judgments of the courts, which must be obeyed. The ongoing judicial review at the FCT High Court is to compel INEC to update its records,” he said.

He noted that while the reasons behind Yusuf’s decision were acknowledged, the NNPP had no issues with the governor and respected any personal decisions he might choose to make.

He attributed the reported defection of members in Kano State to what he described as the “high-handedness” of Kwankwaso, calling it regrettable.

Aniebonam urged party members in Kano State and across the country to remain calm and committed, expressing optimism that the NNPP would record more victories in the 2027 general elections.