Alkali, ex-NNPP national chair, chieftains join APC

Rufa’i Alkali, immediate-past national chair of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The development comes months after he resigned as the national chair of the party that had Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano, as its presidential candidate.

Also, Sulaiman Hunkuyi, a former senator and NNPP deputy national chair, and Ben Angwe, a former executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and NNPP legal adviser, joined the ruling party.

They were formally received into the party by Abdullahi Ganduje, national chair of the APC, at a ceremony in the party’s headquarters in Abuja.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the trio said they did their best while at the NNPP.

“It is on record, we individually and collectively did our best for the NNPP, but we have all resigned from the NNPP due to individual personal reasons,” they said.

“A time will come when we will expatiate on this. For now, it is time to move forward.

“However, we hinged our participation and involvement in any political party in the future on trust, mutual respect, accommodation and inclusivity.

“We took time to review the state of the political parties in the country, especially since after the 2023 general elections and we also consulted very widely with our friends, associates and supporters.

“Accordingly, we concluded that, following our departure from the NNPP and PDP, if we must advance, then our next destination should be the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“As usual, we know the temptation for some people is to say that we are joining the APC now because it is the ruling party at the federal level in the country.

“We do understand because this is a common perception but as far as we are concerned this is far from the truth.”

They said APC has “opened a new page in the history of party politics” and is “more welcoming and more accommodating”.