The New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, has declared that its 2023 presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, will not be allowed to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the party.
The NNPP National Secretary, Ogini Olaposi, made the declaration in a statement issued on Sunday, January 11, in Lagos.
Olaposi said the party’s presidential ticket for 2027 would be open to all qualified and bona fide members, unlike in 2023 when the ticket was exclusively given to Kwankwaso.
According to him, Kwankwaso’s exclusion is due to unresolved disagreements between the NNPP and the Kwankwasiyya Movement, which he said has since parted ways with the party.
He explained that the NNPP entered into a Memorandum of Association with the Kwankwasiyya Movement in 2022, but the agreement expired after the 2023 general elections.
Olaposi alleged that anti-party activities by members of the movement after the elections led to the expulsion of key figures, including Kwankwaso and Elder Buba Galadima, stressing that the decision has not been reversed.
He disclosed that the party already has presidential aspirants ahead of 2027, including two members from the diaspora, and remains open to more contenders and possible alliances.
Reacting to Kwankwaso’s recent claim that any party he defects to must offer him a presidential ticket, Olaposi dismissed the statement as unrealistic.
He also claimed that Kwankwaso’s political influence in Kano State had declined, noting that several key members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement had defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Olaposi added that any political party seeking alliance with the NNPP must deal only with the party’s National Working Committee, which he described as the only legally recognised body to make such decisions.
The statement comes amid speculations that Kwankwaso and other politicians are being courted by opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
