Founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, has clarified that he remains the founder and not a factional leader of the party, appealing to the Nigerian press to address him appropriately.
He noted that it was Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso and members of his Kwankwasiya Movement in the party that belonged to a faction of NNPP before their eventual expulsion.
Aniebonam, in a statement personally signed by him on Monday in Lagos, said: “the media in-particular should please do me a favour and stop referring to me as a leader of a faction in the NNPP.
“I am the founder and father of the NNPP since 2002 till date, and it is not in contest. I still hold the certificate of registration of the party.
“A faction going by dictionary definition is a small group within a larger group. Therefore, it is Kwankwaso and his followers that were a faction before he was expelled from the NNPP.”
Aniebonam said he regretted the turn of events after offering the sole candidacy of the NNPP to Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso in 2023, as its presidential candidate.
“I regret that I came with clean mind and at no cost with members of the NNPP national executive committee and members to help Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiya Movement, to contest elective positions in the 2023 general elections.
“I regret to note the turn of events at the moment but really, there is nothing to worry about, it is my belief that a day shall come when peace shall return to the NNPP,” he added.
According to Aniebonam, “I want to state clearly that I do not know that there is a faction in the NNPP.
“It shall never be my intention to lead a faction in a party that I founded, nurtured, financed and supervised its growth and development for 22 years before the entry of Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiya Movement.
“Unfortunately, elder Buba Galadima who led a delegation of highly respected Nigerians to my country home in Umuawulu town in Awka South local government area of Anambra State, today found on national television, displaying an uncommon character of an elder which is disheartening.
“It is my belief that the end shall justify the means and coercion and application of non-conformity means do not usually resolve internal crisis.
“The silence of Kwankwaso under the circumstances may not present him as a character that can advance the cause of a greater Nigeria of our dreams. God’s decision is supreme.
“Under the canopy of NNPP, I am Kwankwaso’s leader and so he should stop undue arrogance and avoidable pride and he can still reactivate his Alliance National Party and continue his journey to the Presidential Villa.”
Aniebonam said that what should be uppermost in the minds of Nigerians should be joining hands with President Bola Tinubu at this trying time to achieve the mantra of new hope for Nigeria of our dreams.
“It is only God that decides the king.
“A great leader is he or she who can take wrong decisions than taking none in a matter of urgent importance.
“Nigeria needs a great leader to take strong decisions and so let’s work hard, exercise patience, make sacrifices and it shall be well with us,” Aniebonam stated.
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