NNPP to INEC: Disregard the Purported Congress Notice

A caucus within the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disregard a “purported notice” of congress circulating within the party.

The call was made by the NNPP National Secretary, Mr. Oginni Sunday, who belongs to the faction loyal to the party’s Founder and Chairman of its Board of Trustees (BoT), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam. He addressed journalists in Abuja on Friday.

Sunday described the proposed convention notice—issued on behalf of the Rabiu Kwankwaso-led group, which he referred to as a mere pressure group within the NNPP—as a violation of the April 3 judgment of the FCT High Court.

Citing the court decision in suit No. FCT/HC/CV/5518/2024, Sunday said the two signatories to the letter, Dr. Ahmed Ajuji and Dipo Olayoku, were “meddlesome interlopers” with no authority to act on behalf of the NNPP.

He explained that the FCT High Court’s judgment had already resolved the issue of the proposed convention, noting that Ajuji’s faction had previously filed a case on December 16, 2024, to halt a lawful congress and convention initiated by the Aniebonam-led BoT. That action, he said, was earlier reinforced by a November 1, 2024 Abia State High Court judgment (Suit No. HUZ/11/2024), which supported the process.

According to Sunday, Justice M.A. Hassan of the FCT High Court dismissed the case filed by the Ajuji-led Kwankwaso faction on April 3, effectively designating them as “judgment debtors,” while confirming the Aniebonam-led leadership as “judgment creditors.”

He expressed shock that despite the judgment—which has not been appealed—Ajuji and Olayoku still wrote to INEC seeking the conduct of what he described as an illegal fresh convention.

Sunday condemned the move as outright defiance of the valid December 2024 and January 2025 congresses and conventions organized under the Aniebonam-led NNPP leadership. He added that a formal letter had already been submitted to INEC, urging the commission to distance itself from any congress initiated by the opposing faction.

It will be recalled that on April 3, Justice Hassan dismissed a suit filed by a faction loyal to Rabiu Kwankwaso challenging the legitimacy of the NNPP leadership under Dr. Aniebonam and National Chairman Dr. Agbo Major. The claimants—Ajuji and 20 others—sought to strip the party’s BoT and executive leaders, including National Secretary Oginni Olaposi, Deputy National Chairman Chief Felix Chukwurah, and legal practitioner Tony Obioha, of their authority.

However, Justice Hassan held that issues relating to internal party leadership and membership are outside judicial jurisdiction, and therefore struck out the case.