The National Executive Committee of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has taken the unprecedented step of expelling its 2023 presidential candidate and national leader, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.
This development was announced by the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Abdulsalam Abdulrasaq, in a statement released on Tuesday in Lagos.
According to Abdulrasaq, the expulsion of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former Governor of Kano State, was a result of his alleged refusal to appear before the party’s Disciplinary Committee.
This move comes in the wake of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) suspension of Kwankwaso due to allegations of gross anti-party activities and mismanagement of the party at the National Convention held on August 29 in Lagos.
In response to his suspension, a faction of the party’s leadership loyal to Kwankwaso retaliated by announcing the suspension of the NNPP founder, Boniface Aniebonam, and the National Publicity Secretary, Agbo Major.
Subsequently, the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) convened and established a Disciplinary Committee, tasking it with the responsibility of inviting the former governor to defend the allegations against him.
The NEC also issued a warning, stating that if Kwankwaso failed to appear before the Disciplinary Committee, he would face expulsion from the party in accordance with the provisions of the party’s constitution for the year 2022 (as amended).
Abdulsalam Abdulrasaq disclosed that the NEC held an emergency session last week Friday, where it made the decision to expel Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso with immediate effect due to his repeated refusal to honor the committee’s invitations.
In his statement, Abdulrasaq declared, “The NEC met in an emergency session on Friday, Sept. 1, and resolved as follows: Following the refusal of Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to appear before the disciplinary committee, which sat on Thursday, Aug. 31, after being duly invited in writing, he is hereby expelled from NNPP with immediate effect. That the erstwhile presidential candidate, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, will be reported to appropriate quarters to answer questions on financial impropriety relating to mismanagement of public funds.”
