The national chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dr Ajuji Ahmed, has dismissed the existence of any faction of the party saying the one he leads remains authentic.
Ahmed stated this on Friday in Abuja at the NNPP national secretariat while addressing a press conference to clear the air on the state of the party to Nigerians.
The Boniface Aniebonam-led faction of the NNPP had laid claim to the party and organised a convention that produced Agbo Major as the national chairman of the party with others emerged as national officers.
Ahmed said the NNPP did not have any national convention in recent times and did not inaugurate any new National Working Committee (NWC). According to him, the current NNPP NWC was constituted in the year 2020 under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act, 2022.
He added that the former members of the party are being prodded on by politicians who are scared of the opposition especially as the 2027 election is far approaching. He described the Aniebonam-led faction as confused lots who have been defeated on many occasions at the law court across the country and only seeking relevance which they have lost.
“As a political party, we would have wanted to ignore recent developments concerning this party, except for the open assault on the integrity of the party and the psyche of Nigerians, by some sponsored elements posing as members and leaders of the Party. This press conference, therefore, is aimed at presenting the true state of affairs in the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
“Let me at this juncture inform you, and through you, inform the world, that there is only one NNPP under the leadership of my humble self as its National Chairman, and this NWC, with this building as the national headquarters of the Party known to law and to the regulating agency for political parties in Nigeria, that is, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Furthermore, the only logo of the NNPP that is known to law is the one with Red, White, Red colours with a book and academic cap in the middle, with the slogan EDUCATION FOR ALL. A visit to the INEC Website will confirm all this information.
“Against the background of all these, it is clearly against the law, and against common decency, for any group under the guise of any identity different from what I have enumerated above, to refer to itself as NNPP.
“For this reason, therefore, the NNPP did not have any National Convention in recent times and so we did not inaugurate any new National Working Committee (NWC). The current NNPP NWC was constituted in the year 2022 under the supervision of INEC as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act, 2022.
“These former members of this party are playing, prodded on by some politicians who are scared of the opposition, because they are afraid of their own shadows as we march towards the 2027 elections.
“Immediately after the 2023 general elections, some members of this Party who openly played anti-party activities were subjected to proper disciplinary procedures and were found wanting. They were duly sanctioned, but instead of exploring the internal mechanisms put in place by the party to address their grievances, they decided to release themselves as willing tools to outsiders in order to distract the attention of the Party.
“They have been jumping from pillar to post, going from one court to the other, and swiftly losing one case after another, in practically every corner of the country. They have been to, and lost, in courts in Abuja, Ekiti, Port Harcourt, Awka, Kano, and Katsina, all the time desperately seeking to mislead the courts and abuse all known court processes. All those have failed.
“In their confusion, in November 2024, they took themselves to Court in Abia State, in the name of NNPP. Meanwhile, an Abuja Federal High Court as far back as April 2024 had ruled that, as expelled former members of the Party, they should stop parading themselves as NNPP members or leaders in any shape or form. The Federal High Court judgment of 18th April 2024, declared them as impostors, having been expelled by the party, and as such can neither sue in the name of the party nor against the party.
“This same hired and sponsored emergency collection of characters gathered themselves in Lagos three days ago in the name of NNPP to hold a ludicrous charade of tipsy comedians when a Court of competent jurisdiction in Abuja on gave a clear and unmistakable injunction against them not to hold that meeting. They defied the court ruling and went ahead to hold a beer parlour meeting in a hotel lobby which they now called National Convention.
Ahmed, however, called on INEC to perform its duties of monitoring the activities of political parties in the country to keep their records as provided in Section 222(a) of the 1999 Constitution.
“By the provisions of Section 83 of the Electoral Act, INEC must monitor all the activities of all Political Parties in Nigeria and keep records of such activities. By the provisions of Section 222(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a condition precedent for the registration and recognition of an association as a political party.
“Gentlemen of the press, your media houses were all represented at the unveiling of our New logo with red white red with a book and an academic cap as well as the new Constitution of our Party which was witnessed by INEC and have been duly approved. Yet, to our dismay some media houses have been parading the old Logo and thereby promoting the mischief and deceit of the renegade group.
“We wish to use this medium and for the umpteenth time introduce the authentic and statutorily recognized Logo of NNPP to all of you today. Any further display of a Logo of the NNPP other than this very one is against the law.
“The greatest danger to any democracy is the disregard for the rule of law. When a group of pretentious politicians consistently defies and shows contempt for the rule of law, and openly mocks our judicial system and our courts, you begin to wonder what set of unseen hands is behind the veil pushing them. It must be the same obvious forces that seek to bring chaos and disorder in all other opposition parties in our democracy.
.”We want to use this medium to inform and confirm to the world that the NNPP does not operate from Apapa, we did not hold any convention this year in any hotel lobby in Lagos. Visit the INEC website and confirm for yourselves that our party is never chaired by a Major (serving or retired) or a Dr. Major or an Agbo Major Dr, or whatever.
“Our NWC was inaugurated here in Abuja in April 2022 for a tenure of four years which ends in April 2026, and it is here in Abuja that our party is headquartered and operates from in accordance with the laws of the land,” the NNPP national chairman concluded.
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