The New Nigeria People’s Party says defections of Abdulmunin Jibrin to APC and Oluremi Oguntoyinbo to PDP are a result of Rabiu Kwankwaso’s anti-party activities and betrayal of trust.

The party was reacting to the latest defections of its members to the ruling APC and the PDP.

A former director-general of Tinubu Support Groups, Mr Jibrin, on Monday, declared his return to the APC and declared support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

Also, a former NNPP gubernatorial candidate in Ogun, Mr Oguntoyinbo, officially resigned from the party on Monday and joined the PDP.

In a statement on Tuesday, NNPP’s national secretary, Ogini Olaposi, said the gale of defections bedevilling the party was a result of an avoidable leadership crisis created by Mr Kwankwaso, its 2023 presidential candidate, and his Kwankwasiya Movement.

“The NNPP faced a series of litigations and still faces a leadership crisis when Kwankwaso and his movement tried to hijack the party’s leadership and structures. Many of our strategic members left our party in Kano to join the APC. There is no responsible politician who would want to be in a political party where an individual perceives himself as the beginning and end in decision-making, and yet, we claim to practice democracy.

“The unfortunate thing is that Kwankwaso and his followers betrayed the trust reposed in them by Dr Boniface Aniebonam, founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the NNPP. The avoidable betrayal of trust of our founder, who gave the presidential ticket of the party to Kwankwaso at no cost, has continued to trail our party.

“In the build-up to the 2027 general elections, we are not surprised by the alignments, as many members are moving to where they will be relevant and contest elections void of political tradership and abuse of power. With INEC yet to resolve the NNPP leadership crisis despite the landmark judgements affirming the Dr Agbo Major-led National Working Committee, there is a tendency that many more members, who are not sure of their fate, will leave,” Mr Olaposi said.

The NNPP scribe, however, stated that the party has no issue with members defecting, just as it welcomes members of other parties joining its fold.

” It’s the right of every Nigerian to choose the party they wish to belong to. The defectors did not join another party under duress but out of their free will, because of our internal leadership crisis.

“As a political party, we are not desperate; politics is not a do-or-die affair, and we believe in honesty and integrity.

“Political parties in Nigeria have ideologies… Loyalty to an ideology matters a lot in an individual’s identity; therefore, any member of the NNPP who is no longer aligned with its ideology is free to leave, and those who believe in it are free to remain or join,” he said.

Mr Olaposi noted that the party is still hoping for INEC’s new leadership to swiftly resolve the NNPP leadership crisis, enabling it to actively participate in the 2027 polls and beyond.

“It’s our hope that INEC should not wait for a compelling order of the court to obey valid court judgements. We urge all our members and intending members to remain calm and law-abiding; we will regain control of our party,” he noted.

(NAN)