The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has firmly denied reports suggesting that its 2023 presidential candidate, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, endorsed the defection of party members to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television monitored on Wednesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, said Kwankwaso neither directly nor indirectly supported any planned or ongoing defection from the NNPP.
Johnson described reports alleging that Kwankwaso had approved the movement of a sitting governor to the APC as false and misleading, stressing that the former Kano State governor’s comments were deliberately taken out of context.
“I think I can say it plainly that he didn’t endorse any move either directly or indirectly,” Johnson said. “It was unfortunate that we woke up to breaking news claiming he had made a U-turn and endorsed a pending or purported defection to the APC. That did not happen, and that is why we pushed back strongly.”
He added that the attempt to link Kwankwaso to the alleged defection was a calculated effort to misrepresent his position and mislead the public, particularly NNPP supporters in Kano State.
According to Johnson, individuals who wish to leave the party are free to do so without invoking Kwankwaso’s name or claiming his backing.
“If people do want to leave, they don’t need to drag his name into it,” he said. “They don’t need to tell the masses in Kano that Kwankwaso supports what is going on. They can simply move if they believe they are going to greener pastures.”
The NNPP spokesman reiterated that Kwankwaso remains committed to the party and has not authorized any political realignment involving the APC.
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