NNPP: ‘Unseen hands’ and emerging cracks in Kwankwasiyya household

The emergence of a new faction in the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has again proven that all is not well in the opposition party. While some party members blame external forces, other stakeholders reckon that the crisis is far-reaching, MURITALA ADEWALE reports.

The bug that is draining life from opposition parties in Nigeria has eaten deep into the root of the Kano State chapter of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), attacking the Kwankwasiyya movement, which has been supplying the party with the necessary oxygen to breathe.

The factional chairman of the party, Senator Mas’ud El-Jibril Doguwa, has expressly disowned the movement, founded by the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 general elections, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and members who pledged loyalty to the group.

Doguwa’s faction is backed by the founder and chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, who is having a running battle with Kwankwaso over the control of the party.

But the Kwankwasiyya faction of the party in Kano State, led by Hon. Hashimu Dungurawa, has the support of the state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf; all the 44 local government chairmen, two out of three senators and majority of Reps members from the state.

Notably, the party won elections solely in Kano State. However, observers are concerned about how the new faction opposing Kwankwaso is receiving maximum protection from security agencies in the state.

The crisis in the state began when some members of the party, led by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Dr Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, decried the movement’s influence on the state government activities and urged the governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf to be independent.

The party immediately suspended Bichi and he was subsequently sacked as the SSG. However, Bichi did not stop his campaign against the Kwankwasiyya group. His latest onslaught was his alliance with Aniebonam who has various court judgments supporting his hegemonic control over the party. Aniebonam and Bichi installed Doguwa as the factional chairman of the party, ostensibly to whittle down the Kwankwaso’s influence in the state.

With two factions of NNPP in Kano State, members are not only polarised over which one is legitimate, but there is a mistrust among members of the state executive council and House of Assembly dominated by the Kwankwasiyya’s faction. However, to complicate the matter, members of both factions are claiming to be loyal to the state governor.

Speaking on the effect of the crisis on the state, a political analyst, Dr Kabiru Sufi, disclosed that there are intrigues going on, which will manifested after the second year anniversary of the administration because that is when real politics will begin in the state.

He said: “I’m not surprised that Kano is now the theatre of war between the two factions because this is where NNPP leaves in terms of power. Well, I don’t think the entire drama bothers ordinary people in Kano or even affects governance as such because the government has not given it much attention.

“It can only affect governance and people if we now have the factions breaking the circles of members of the state House Assembly. Hence, the whole issue is not making any impact for now on the streets of Kano. But, if these claims and counterclaims of who is the chairman of the party in Kano, goes beyond this period, it will eventually gain public attention and then begin to affect governance.

“But whether we like it or not, the polarisation of the ruling party will gain both public and government interest immediately after the current administration clocks two years in office and that is when politics will start ahead of 2027. That is when the government will need to take a stand where it belongs among the opposing factions.”

On whether Kwankwaso will gain dominance over the opposing faction or be overwhelmed and be forced out of NNPP, Dr Sufi said, “time will surely tell. We still have a few months to go, when the real politics begins, things will naturally unfold.”

The factional chairman, though consented that anybody can claim membership of the party but warned against any movement parading itself as a political party with a different logo and emblem using the identity of NNPP.

He said: “The issue here is just between the NNPP as a party and Kwankwasiyya, an interest group. NNPP, with a fruit basket, and Kwankwasiyya with book, pen and academic cap emblem. Although members of NNPP were elected into various positions in the state, they are not necessarily Kwankwasiyya members,” Doguwa said.

Depleting the number of elected members in Kwankwasiyya faction, Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki, representing the Dala Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, and his counterpart Hon. Kabiru Rurum, representing Rano/Bunkura/Kibiya/ Federal Constituency, have joined Doguwa faction.

However, Dungurawa has dismissed Doguwa’s claims of leading the authentic faction of the party, which he described as a joke taken too far. He cautioned the factional chairman not to allow those plotting to disrupt NNPP to use him for their dirty job. He specifically accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of orchestrating a crisis within the opposition party.

He explained that under Kwankwaso’s leadership, the NNPP rose to prominence when he used the platform to contest the 2023 general elections. However, the national publicity secretary of NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, asserted that there is no internal crisis in the opposition party. He, however, accused the ruling APC of sponsoring those already expelled from the party to cause distress in NNPP.

Johnson lamented how the expelled members of the NNPP enjoyed the support of federal security agencies to convey illegal convention despite the subsisting court order that prohibited such exercise.

When asked to justify his allegation that the NNPP faction is being sponsored by APC, he said: “No doubt, we know they are being sponsored because, at each turn of events, they have supported the position of APC as against the positions of NNPP on all matters in the state.

“For instance, look at the Emirate issue. While the state government controlled by NNPP re-instated Alhaji Lamido Sanusi as the Emir, this group is still supporting Ado Bayero. Also, we know their positions on the Kano local government issues and the Supreme Court matter on Kano State governorship election. At all these stages, these disgruntled elements held press conferences and even went to court, just like APC did, to try and stop the election.

“So, it is clear to us that these former members of NNPP, who have been expelled are in bed with the leadership of APC, and even the presidency has kept silent and done nothing to dispel the rumours on the streets that the federal government has been providing security cover for Aminu Ado Bayero at Nassarawa House, even after the declaration of the Court of Appeal on the matter. These people held a purported convention in Abuja with the support of the police.

“I must say that, unfortunately, our laws and system allow jokers to claim what they are not and get away with it. There is only one NNPP in Nigeria and Kano State. If you check INEC, who is the regulator, they will tell you it is the one with a red and white logo with an academic cap that symbolises education.”

A party source also disclosed that it is not news in the state that some of “these disgruntled members of the party are holding nocturnal meeting with APC national chairman, Abdulahi Umaru Ganduje in Abuja, who is fueling the crisis in NNPP.”

The source alleged Ganduje of causing the crisis in NNPP because of his ambition to win the state for his party in 2027. He said: “You know as the national chairman of APC, he could still not believe how NNPP won both the presidential and governorship elections in 2023 in Kano State. So, he is fighting back using some expelled members claiming to be a faction of the party. But he should understand that Kano people have rejected APC and no shenanigan by him or from any other members of his party will change people’s mind because NNPP is performing in the state.”

When contacted for a reaction to the NNPP allegations, the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, vowed not to dignify the opposition in response to internal issues bothering them. He wondered why NNPP would always prefer heaping blame on APC for whatever failures afflicting them.