The South West leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Alhaji Abdul-Rasheed Adebisi Olopoeyan, has cautioned the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, against igniting crisis in the party.
Olopoeyan said the anti-party allegation against Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the party’s presidential candidate in the February 25 poll, had never been proven.
The Forum of State Chairmen of NNPP had asked Kwankwaso to tender an immediate resignation or risk indefinite suspension over his alleged “unhealthy relationship” with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during and after the general elections.
Olopoeyan, who spoke during an interview in Ibadan, urged Dr Aniebonam not to pass judgement against Kwankwaso in a haste or create a crisis in the party by abusing the rights of his office, but respect the constitution and supremacy of the party.
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While noting that the BoT chairman had no constitutional right to suspend or reinstate any party member, Olopoeyan said the NNPP had a constitution and internal mechanism of addressing issues, stressing that he should be calm as a founder of the party.
He said, “If truly Kwankwaso engaged in anti-party activities and associated with any candidates from other political parties, it is only the party in his state or national level that can raise and deal with the issue.
“And if Kwankwaso is found guilty, necessary steps should be taken, not that the BoT chairman will instigate his loyalists and suspended chairmen in the party to carry out his wish at any time.
“The current action of our party’s BoT chairman may lead to an unresolvable crisis within the party. Here in Oyo State, we are solidly behind all the decisions of the national hierarchy, and we have no issue in the state.
“So, I will implore our party’s founder, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, to stay calm and allow the supremacy of the party to prevail.”
He also faulted the letter from Dr Aniebonam directing the party’s NWC to reinstate suspended members of the party, especially in Ogun State.
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