Politics

NNPP New Party Logo: South West leaders dismiss Olopoeyan, others’ objections

The leadership and stakeholders of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the South West, after an emergency meeting, have dismissed the claims of a few of its members, Alhaji Adebisi Olopoeyan and its publicity secretary, Kilamiwaye Badmus, over the new logo of the party, saying they either acted out of ignorance or a deliberate intent to mislead the public and cause disaffection within the party.

Tribune Online reports that the NNPP, last weekend, during its mini-convention, which was held in Abuja, affirmed the appointment of its new executives headed by Ajuji Ahmed as well as ratified the party’s new logo and slogan, attended by party chairmen from the 36 states and the FCT, as well as federal and state lawmakers.

Olopoeyan and Badmus had in widely publicised statements accused the NNPP national leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, of acting as the sole decision-maker and stating that he did not consult stakeholders before the new logo was carried out.

But in a statement issued on Wednesday after an emergency meeting of the leadership and stakeholders by the South West zonal chairman, Prince Ademola Ayoade, in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, the party, while debunking the unsubstantiated claims, said the men were probably being used by political enemies to discredit the NNPP national leadership but that they had failed in their “assignment.”.

According to Prince Ayoade, the change of the logo was duly deliberated upon by the National Working Committee (NWC), approved by the National Executive Committee (NEC), and ratified by the National Convention as part of the constitutional amendment carried out by the party, adding that due democratic process was followed.

“The whole objective of this unfortunate orchestration in their media statement was to discredit the NNPP national leadership, but they have failed woefully in their assignment. Of course, reading between the lines, it is obvious that they are being used by our political opponents. It’s cheap blackmail to cause disaffection within the party.

“The change in the logo was exigent, as Olopoeyan admitted, and the process as part of our constitution amendment went through the NWC, NEC, and National Convention for ratification. So it passed through a democratic process. Their actions are therefore false, misleading, and malicious and should be disregarded by the public. But Olopoeyan’s claims here are understandable because he’s acting out the script of his paymasters,” the statement added.

On the legality or otherwise of the recent NNPP convention, the zonal chairman said it also went through the normal democratic process, noting that contrary to the “reckless assertion,” there was no court order barring the convention as previous cases instituted against the party’s leadership were thrown out as lacking in merit. He added that the convention was actually postponed until last Saturday due to the obedience of a court summons, which was disposed of by the court.

The stakeholders and leaders of the South West assured NNPP members nationwide that the party was rebuilding towards a new era of democratic advancement, which will birth a vigorous campaign for the emancipation of the people by meeting their basic needs in education, health, security, food sufficiency, and infrastructural development across the board.

“We, therefore, charge our members to rededicate themselves to the challenge of national renewal, which will entail mass mobilisation and propagation of the idea that government can and should make life more abundant for the people through pro-people policies and programmes,” Ayoade said.

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