A senior chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has said that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is neither the leader of the party in Kano State nor its leader at the national level, a party official said in a statement on Monday.
Alhaji Sani Danmasani, National Vice Chairman of the NNPP for the North‑West zone, made the clarification as political realignments continue within the party and across the Nigerian political landscape.
Danmasani said the party’s founder and the national executive leadership, not Kwankwaso, hold recognised leadership roles within the NNPP.
Danmasani said in the statement that Kwankwaso, who was the NNPP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, is not currently considered the party’s leader in Kano State or nationwide.
He said this is the case even after reports referring to Kwankwaso as the party leader continued to circulate in the media.
According to Danmasani, the party’s leadership structure recognises Dr Boniface Aniebonam, the founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and the Dr Agbo Major‑led National Working Committee (NWC) as the legitimate leaders authorised to guide the party’s affairs.
The NNPP official said that Kwankwaso and others, including members of his Kwankwasiya Movement, were expelled from the party following internal disciplinary actions.
Danmasani said that both an Abia State High Court and the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja had upheld the legality of those expulsions.
He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as a regulatory body, does not determine party membership or leadership, and that courts must be obeyed unless a superior court overturns their orders.
Danmasani urged media outlets to stop referring to Kwankwaso as the party’s leader to avoid confusion among Nigerians and other political parties during ongoing negotiations and alignments ahead of future elections.
The clarification comes amid broader political developments in Kano and within the NNPP, where shifts in allegiance and leadership disputes have drawn public attention.
Recent reports show continuing movement of political actors between parties and speculation about influence structures within Nigeria’s political parties.
A key NNPP official has stated that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is not the leader of the party in Kano State or nationally.
The official said established party leadership and court judgments on disciplinary measures support this position and urged accurate public reporting on the party’s leadership structure.
