The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)has accused some of its former leaders of attacking the political career of Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, over his refusal to be “manipulated” against the interests of Kano indigenes.
The party said the governor’s stance had triggered sustained attacks from the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and a former party chieftain, Buba Galadima.
In a statement signed by its National Chairman, Dr Agbo Major Gilbert, on Friday and made available to journalists in Abuja, the NNPP said Yusuf declined to be used as a “slave” in pursuit of what it described as a zonal expansionist agenda.
The statement said, “Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Buba Galadima are attacking Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s political career because he refused to be manipulated any further.
“They are now crying blue murder and accusing the governor of betrayal, whereas they had plotted to enslave the good people of Kano State and the governor.”
The party claimed that those criticising Yusuf had themselves betrayed the NNPP’s founder, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, who, it said, provided the party’s platform and personal funds to revive Kwankwaso’s political career ahead of the 2023 elections.
According to the NNPP, Aniebonam “salvaged what was left” of Kwankwaso’s political structure in 2022 by offering the party platform free of charge and funding its take-off.
The statement also took a swipe at Galadima, alleging that his political strategies had failed repeatedly in the past and had now led Kwankwaso into “political disaster”.
“At 75, Galadima is shedding tears not because he loves the people of Kano but because he is getting rewards for mischief,” the party said, adding that Kano was saved by Yusuf’s “quick recovery instincts”.
The NNPP further expressed regret over past agreements reached with Kwankwaso and Galadima in 2022, alongside other political figures, including Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi and Prof Bem Angwe, at Aniebonam’s residence in Awka, Anambra State.
The party also condemned comments allegedly made on a television programme by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Magaji Ibrahim Mato, whom it described as national adviser to an “illegal NNPP” faction.
It said the remarks, allegedly made on ARISE Television, amounted to an attack on the party’s founder and reflected the level of frustration within the faction.
Gilbert reiterated that Kwankwaso, Galadima and what he called “the entire fake NWC led by Dr Ahmed Ajuji” remained expelled from the NNPP.
He added that the party would “in due course” issue further statements on the matter.
