Founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, has disputed reports that Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf resigned from the party, insisting that the governor only exited the Kwankwasiya Movement led by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Aniebonam made the clarification on Saturday, January 24, while reacting to media reports announcing Yusuf’s resignation from the NNPP.
According to him, the governor’s resignation letter was not addressed to the recognised NNPP National Working Committee (NWC) led by Dr Major Agbo, nor to the party’s state or ward executives, but rather to a Kwankwasiya Movement ward official in Diso-Chiranchi, Gwale LGA.
“The NNPP NWC does not recognise the Kwankwasiya movement ward chairman as chairman of the party,” Aniebonam said.
Recall that Governor Yusuf was reported to have resigned alongside 21 state lawmakers, eight House of Representatives members, and 44 local government chairmen in Kano State. The resignation was announced on Friday, January 23, by the governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa.
Yusuf’s letter stated that he was resigning from the NNPP with effect from January 23, 2026, but Aniebonam maintained that neither he nor the party’s Board of Trustees was officially informed of any such resignation.
He added that the NNPP had previously lifted Yusuf’s suspension and recognised him as the party’s leader in Kano, being its highest elected official.
Aniebonam further cited court judgments from the Abia State High Court and FCT High Court, which he said directed INEC to recognise the Aniebonam-led NNPP leadership and cease dealings with the Kwankwasiya Movement, which he described as a defunct pressure group.
“The NNPP is a registered political party. Kwankwasiya was only a movement, and its association with the party was terminated after the 2023 elections,” he said.
He stressed that Yusuf and other Kano officials were elected on the NNPP platform, symbolised by the basket of fruits, not the Kwankwasiya insignia.
Aniebonam blamed the political fallout in Kano on what he described as the high-handedness of Kwankwaso, calling it regrettable, while urging NNPP members nationwide to remain calm and focused ahead of the 2027 elections.