Kwankwaso Ceased Being Our Member in 2023 – NNPP

The National Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dr. Agbo Gilbert Major, has declared that Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, former Kano State Governor and 2023 presidential candidate, is no longer a member of the party.

Speaking during an interview on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, Dr. Major said Kwankwaso’s exit from the NNPP became official in June 2023 and has since been backed by legal decisions from courts across Nigeria.

“Let me make it clear that there are more serious issues to talk about than to talk about Kwankwaso as a person. I’m not here to talk about him. He’s become part of the history of NNPP. At a point, he came in, and at a point, he left with his Kwankwasiyya movement. So, I don’t want to talk about him,” Dr. Major stated.

The NNPP chairman explained that the party is no longer associated with Kwankwaso and that the Abia and FCT High Courts have confirmed this position through their rulings.

Kwankwaso, a former Kano Governor and founding figure of the red-cap Kwankwasiyya movement, had joined the NNPP in early 2022 after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He contested the 2023 presidential election under the NNPP platform, finishing fourth behind Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi.

Dr. Major described the Kwankwasiyya movement as a temporary alliance that brought in supporters but eventually created friction within the party.

“Kwankwaso came in with his people – the so-called Kwankwasiyya movement. And if you look at the CV of the people that have defected, you’d see that they were very active members of the Kwankwasiyya movement,” he explained.

He acknowledged that the NNPP lost prominent figures—such as Senator Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila and several federal lawmakers—but insisted the problem was not with the NNPP itself.

“Let me place it on record by saying that they didn’t defect from NNPP, because we are in touch with them. All they keep telling us is that ‘we are with you, we have no problems with the party, we have no problems with the programs, but we have problems with the organisation that became part of you through which we came into the party and won election’.”

Dr. Major described the Kwankwasiyya structure as autocratic and no longer aligned with the NNPP’s principles.

“People have taken so much that they can’t stomach anymore. They’re telling the Kwankwasiyya movement ‘we are tired of what you are doing. It has become a one-man show’.”

Responding to questions about Kwankwaso’s rumoured alliance with the presidency and possible move to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the NNPP chairman said he was unconcerned.

“I want you to put yourself in my shoes. Would you be worried if somebody – who for over a year now is not being a member of your party – is walking into another political party? Why should that disturb you? Please let us discuss serious matters. The man is gone. I told you that he is part of the history of NNPP. He came at a point and left. I don’t want to talk about him. I want to discuss things that would further enhance our operational capacity.

“What I can tell you is is that he is at liberty to go to wherever he wants, because we have no business with him. He ceased to be a member of this party since 2023 June.”