NNPP crisis: Court didn’t recognise your faction, Ahmed-led leadership tells Aniebonam

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) led by Ajuji Ahmed, its national chairman, says the faction headed by Agbo Major has not been reinstated by the court.

Ahmed’s camp is aligned with Rabiu Kwankwaso, the NNPP’s presidential candidate in 2023, while Major’s faction is loyal to Boniface Aniebonam, the party’s founder.

BACKGROUND

On Thursday, an Abuja high court dismissed a suit filed by Ahmed’s faction, challenging the legitimacy of the party’s leadership under Major.

The case, brought by Ahmed and 20 others, sought to nullify the recent convention that produced Major as the factional chairman and other elected national working committee (NWC) members.

The plaintiffs also urged the court to bar the officials and the board of trustees (BoT) from convening meetings, organising congresses, or presiding over the party’s national convention, arguing that they had been expelled from the NNPP over “anti-party activities”.

M.A. Hassan, the presiding judge, ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction over the matter, noting that the disputes over party leadership and membership fall outside judicial intervention.

“The position of the law, as upheld by the court of appeal and the supreme court, is clear: Courts do not adjudicate on matters that fall within the internal affairs of a political party, except in cases relating to the nomination of candidates for elections,” the judge said.

Speaking with journalists after the ruling, Segun Fiki, the defendant’s lawyer, said the ruling recognised Major and Aniebonam as the party’s authentic leadership.

‘THEY REMAINED SACKED’

However, in a statement issued on Thursday night, Ladipo Johnson, the NNPP publicity secretary of the Ahmed-led faction, said the court did not reinstate Major’s group.

“The honourable court made no comments on the merits of the case before it, quite naturally, as it stated that it has no jurisdiction,” the statement reads.

“Quite expectedly, some of the defendants in the suit who remain expelled from the party have rushed to misinform Nigerians by twisting the judgement.

“Unlike the falsehoods they put out, there was no pronouncement conferring legitimacy or authority on any so-called board of trustees. The court declined jurisdiction on the ground that it is an internal affair of the party.

“Thus, the expulsion of Boniface Aniebonam and his cohorts remains and was never disturbed by the court judgment.

“The judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja division, delivered on 18/4/2024 affirming the expulsion of Boniface Aniebonam, Major Agbo, Olaposi Oginni, and others has not been set aside and is still subsisting.”

Johnson said the issue of who qualifies as a member of the NWC is a constitutional and statutory matter, noting that Ahmed’s group is recognised by the Independent Electoral National Commission (INEC).

“By virtue of Section 222(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which provides that for an association to be registered as a political party, the names and addresses of its members of the National Working Committee (NWC) must be registered with INEC, as well as Sections 81 & 83 of the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended), which provide that political parties must have their records properly registered with INEC, it is the NNPP as recognized by INEC, and under the leadership of Dr. Ajuji Ahmed, that is authentic,” he said.

“If you inquire at INEC or simply Google the INEC portal, you will not see the names of Boniface Aniebonam, Major Agbo, Olaposi Oginni, and their cohorts as national working committee members of the NNPP.

“There are no records of their activities with INEC as required by the Electoral Act.

“In actual fact, INEC had, in the said suit preceding today’s judgment, by their affidavit before the court, denied knowledge of the existence of this renegade group of persons and any of their purported political activities.”

Johnson asked the Major’s camp to desist from “misinforming the public at every turn”.