Kwankwaso Has Plan To Eject Those Who Gave Him Platform’ – Agbo

Eko Hot Blog reports that acting National Chairman of a faction of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Major Agbo, has accused the presidential candidate of the party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, of planning to eject people who gave a platform out of the party.

Agbo made this claim in an interview with Punch amid the crisis rocking the party.

A faction of the NNPP suspended the former Governor of Kano state over alleged anti-party activities.

Kwankwaso’s faction, in response to the report, suspended the founder of the party, Boniface Aniebonam, and several others.

Speaking about the crisis in NNPP, Agbo said, “The truth is that we had a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the NNPP, the Kwankwasiyya group, and the National Movement in February or March last year. It was on the strength of that MoU that they joined us. This memorandum was primarily focused on the need for mutual respect. But as soon as the MoU was signed, we created room for them to inject people into various levels of the party’s leadership and the National Working Committee. All the party’s organs were dissolved, except the Board of Trustees. The entire month of March 2022 was dedicated to reconstituting them before we discussed how to present candidates for the 2023 general elections.

Agbo further stated, “The moment the election ended, they started targeting those of us who are founding members of the party, including the founder, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam. Meanwhile, Section 12 of the NNPP Constitution, on which they based their arguments, defines who the founder of the party is.

“The constitution does not mention ‘founders.’ Instead, it clearly states that ‘the founder is a life member of the party.’ That portion referred to Dr. Aniebonam. The same constitution also states that he has the right to call to order any officer of the party acting in a way that is not in line with the constitution.

“This same constitution in Section 39 says that people should be reprimanded when they violate the constitution. The truth is that none of us, including the founder of the party, is against imposing punishment on anybody who has acted against the party’s interests.”

Speaking about why Kwankwaso’s faction is opposed to them, Agbo said, “Our offense was that we insisted on them following due process in everything they wanted to do. They mentioned some states and said they wanted to invite them. I was a member of the disciplinary committee. When I saw that what they were doing was wrong, I had to withdraw. I wouldn’t be part of anything unethical. The procedure was flawed from the beginning, and they were operating covertly. It became clear that they had ulterior motives, so I lost interest in the team. Eventually, they dismissed seven state chairmen and dissolved the state, local government, and ward levels.

“What did they do? Were they given a fair hearing, as our constitution requires? Even the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that you cannot take such actions without giving the person the opportunity to be heard. Why didn’t they listen to them before proceeding with their dismissals? These are the issues at hand. They protested, claiming it was injustice. Then they took their grievances to the founder of the party in Lagos.

“The founder’s fault is that he listened to them. It shows that these people had already made up their minds about what to do to the man who provided them a platform free of charge. No money was involved in the deal.

“In fact, they traveled all the way to the founder’s village in Umuawulu (Anambra State) to meet us. They knelt before us, led by the same Buba Galadima. These individuals, who also endorsed the MoU, left when they realized that the direction things were going was not in line with the founding vision. They left the party out of frustration and anger. That’s where we stand today.

“It’s unfortunate that this man (Kwankwaso) sat idly by while the National Working Committee (NWC) mistreated the founder of the party. This is the same man he (Kwankwaso) promised to treat with utmost respect for being so generous.

“I said I couldn’t be a part of this, so I voiced my concerns. The next thing I heard was that I had taken the side of the founder and therefore deserved the same punishment as the founder. Can you imagine? These are just a group of individuals trying to destabilize NNPP.”

Click To Watch Our Video Of The Week