The New Nigeria People’s Party has denied reports that its national leader, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, endorsed the rumoured defection of Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, to the All Progressives Congress, describing the claim as false and misleading.
The party was reacting to a report suggesting that Kwankwaso had advised his supporters to cooperate with a political movement linked to the APC amid speculation over Yusuf’s possible defection.
In a statement issued late Tuesday in Abuja, the NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, described the report as “a wicked lie” and “a blatant falsehood,” accusing unnamed political actors of twisting Kwankwaso’s words to justify an impending defection.
Johnson said the controversy reflected the desperation of some party members allegedly planning to leave the NNPP, insisting that Kwankwaso’s position had remained unchanged.
“It has become clear that those seeking to defect have no self-worth if they feel they must misinform the public about Kwankwaso’s position,” he said, adding that “deliberately and mischievously twisting his words to fool the masses into believing that he has endorsed their move is as childish as it is dishonest.”
He challenged those involved to leave the party openly without invoking Kwankwaso’s name, stressing that the former Kano State governor had described the reported defection plan as “a cold betrayal of trust and the mandate freely given and defended by the people of Kano State,” even as security presence reportedly increased around the Kano Government House amid rising political tension.