Factional National Chairman of the New Nigeria’s Peoples Party, (NNPP), Agbo Major, says the party’s crisis is over after a court ruling, dismissing concerns about the party’s future without Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Major stressed that the party had structure long before Kwankwaso joined and remains solid despite his exit.
Recall that the leadership crisis followed the 2023 general elections, as factions within the party clashed over control and direction, particularly over the influence of Kwankwaso and his allies. The dispute was taken to the Federal Capital Territory High Court, which on March 17, ruled in favour of the faction led by Major, affirming its leadership of the party.
He said: “Regarding the political reality, the court has spoken, so technically, the crisis is over.
“NNPP has always been winning elections, which means it has always had its structures even before Kwankwaso came. He added value, but his exit now has not changed anything because we hope to build and consolidate on what was existing before he arrived,” he declared.
Responding to questions about control of the party’s headquarters, Agbo Major said he currently occupies the office of the National Chairman.
“I am the one. Prior to Kwankwaso’s coming, we were in Wuse Zone 4 as the National Secretariat. When he came in, he asked us to move to one of his private properties in Asokoro. When the crisis started shortly after the 2023 general election, we moved to our own new secretariat at Hassan Usman Katsina Street in Asokoro. That is the National Secretariat of the party as we speak.”
On whether the party can thrive without Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Agbo Major expressed confidence in the NNPP’s strength, insisting it had an established base long before Kwankwaso joined.
“Before he came, the party had its followership. One of the dangers of democracy is when you build a political party around an individual; that was exactly what we faced between 2023 and today. We discovered we were working with an individual. Every political actor has their followership, and the party has its own that existed long before he arrived. We won seats in Bauchi in 2019, which is what attracted Kwankwaso to us. While he added value—like winning the governorship in Kano—the value eventually became a ‘nuisance value’ that threatened the existence of the party,” he explained.
Maintaining that the original NNPP has been transparent for 22 years, Major blamed recent turmoil on Kwankwaso’s faction, not the party’s long-standing leadership.
“Our side—the original NNPP side—never lost trust because we ran this party transparently for 22 years before they came. It is their arrival that brought the crisis. If Nigerians have anyone to question, they should be questioning that group for bringing turmoil into a party that operated seamlessly for over two decades,” he said.
Major also said the party remains focused on fielding candidates for upcoming elections.
“The primary assignment of every political party is to field candidates for elections, and we are quite aware of that. We have fielded candidates like Kalu Idika Kalu in 2007, and Pastor Chris Okotie in 2003. Even while the crisis lasted, we kept our structures intact. We have a mandatory 21-day window to announce our national convention, and we intend to do something about that soon,” he revealed.
On the possibility of reconciliation, Major said the party has always left the door open since June 2023, but the other faction failed to engage and instead escalated tensions.
“Democracy is about the power of disagreeing to agree. We left the window for reconciliation open since June 2023, but the other side never explored it; instead, they added fuel to the fire. We have never shut that window. Dr. Boniface Aniebonam is a man with a large heart who is not averse to settlement, but it would be a different ballgame now because we have learned from what we’ve been subjected to over the past three years,” he said.
On how the NNPP plans to tackle insecurity in Nigeria, Major said the party’s approach focuses on the people themselves, noting that perpetrators live within the communities they target.
“Security is about the people. The easiest way to solve the problem of insecurity is to take the challenge to the people because the perpetrators are living in the midst of the communities they are attacking. Our approach for the last 15 years has been to get the ordinary people directly involved. The NNPP is an ordinary-person-friendly party, not an elitist one.”
Responding to concerns about a potential APC-led sole candidacy for the 2027 elections, Major dismissed the notion as a distraction, insisting that NNPP will find its own candidates.
“If there is any plot to pave any political party, especially ours, into any APC agenda, then we should be asking those who have been around after having been sacked, and have been around causing problems here and there. But that is not the issue now. We, as a party, I will continue to insist that our primary role is to field candidates. Yes, our time has been wasted with talk about this, but we are going to field candidates,” he stressed.
Favour Odima
About the Author
