Founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, has dismissed reports that Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has resigned from the party, insisting that the governor merely exited the Kwankwasiya Movement led by former governor Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Aniebonam made the clarification on Saturday, January 24, while reacting to widespread media reports claiming that Governor Yusuf had resigned from the NNPP.
According to him, the resignation letter attributed to the governor was not addressed to the recognised National Working Committee (NWC) of the NNPP led by Dr Major Agbo, nor to any legally recognised party structure at the ward, local government or state level.
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Instead, Aniebonam said the letter was addressed to a Kwankwasiya Movement ward official in Diso-Chiranchi, Gwale Local Government Area, a body he described as having no standing within the NNPP.
“The NNPP National Working Committee does not recognise the Kwankwasiya movement ward chairman as chairman of the party,” Aniebonam stated.
Recall that Governor Yusuf was reported to have resigned from the NNPP alongside 21 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives and 44 local government chairmen.
The alleged resignation was announced on Friday, January 23, by the governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa.
In the letter, Yusuf reportedly said his resignation from the NNPP took effect from January 23, 2026. However, Aniebonam maintained that neither the party leadership nor its Board of Trustees received any official resignation notice from the governor.
He further disclosed that the NNPP had earlier lifted Yusuf’s suspension and formally recognised him as the party’s leader in Kano State, being its highest elected office holder.
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Aniebonam also cited judgments of the Abia State High Court and the FCT High Court, which he said directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Aniebonam-led NNPP leadership and discontinue dealings with the Kwankwasiya Movement.
“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 Governor Yusuf and other Kano officials were elected on the NNPP platform, symbolised by the basket of fruits, and not on the Kwankwasiya insignia.
Blaming the political crisis in Kano on what he described as the high-handedness of Senator Kwankwaso, Aniebonam described the situation as regrettable, while urging NNPP members nationwide to remain calm and focused ahead of the 2027 general elections.