Spokesman of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ladipo Johnson, has said that Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, who is the founder of the party, is subject to the NNPP constitution and not above expulsion.
Johnson said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, adding that there is no owner of the party, following the Nigerian Constitution, Electoral Act and under the constitution of the party.
In a statement issued by Johnson in the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting held in Abuja, it stated that Dr Boniface Aniebonam, Agbo Major and several others were expelled from the party.
Referring to the statement, Johnson said the fact that Dr. Aniebonam is the founder, doesn’t make him above the constitution. He also advised him to challenge the statement by NEC if he (Aniebonam) is not satisfied with it.
According to Johnson, Dr. Aniebonam issues began when he said that comrade Oginni was still the chairman who the state had dissolved then he single handedly wrote a letter stating that he had reversed the decisions of the National Executive and the National Working Committee.
He (Johnson) said the Board of Trustees (BoT) hasn’t even been constituted due to earlier elections, but is in the process, so they had to constitute major things like the executives.
“The actual board hadn’t met. The board is an advisory board,” he said “can Dr. Aniebonam on his own, without the meeting of the board, call to order?
“What sort of meeting is that?
“Secondly, can you say that when you complained last week, that the member of the BoT was wrongfully suspended by the working committee and others complained that they were suspended by the working committee.
“How did they transition from people who were suspended within a week or two weeks to people who are now saying that they are a constituted board. It’s a farce. It’s a joke.”
However, the Acting National Secretary of NNPP, Sunday, contradicted this by saying, “The board was not dissolved even when Dr. Aniebonam, in his magnanimity, was handing over the party. He did not throw away the board.
“It seems as if you’re trying to hide something here. The NNPP Nigeria, we have only one board, and the board sat, and at the board meeting, Dr Boniface Aniebonam resigned as the chairman of the board. He said he wants to remain as the founder of the board.”
He also contradicted allegations by Johnson that he committed anti-party activities by supporting another party.
Sunday also emphasised that the vision of New Nigeria was given to Dr. Aniebonam not Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and that Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso had also floated a party that packed up.
“Let them come and tell Nigerians that they are not holding their meeting in Kwankwaso’s bedroom,” he said, “the NEC they are talking about does not exist.”
Johnson also spoke on the allegations against Kwankwaso and addressed the first anti-party allegations that Kwankwaso and Peter Obi were coming together stating that he was part of the three-man committee that met with the Labour Party.
He said, “Peter Obi wasn’t there, Kwankwaso wasn’t there. We spoke and we couldn’t reach a consensus ad idem, so that merger didn’t happen. That is not anti-party because the party knew about it.
He also questioned how Kwankwaso was said to be hobnobbing when he continuously briefed those at the national level about his meetings when the government approached Kwankwaso to have a government of national unity.
“Furthermore, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, went to visit him at home. All of a sudden, the social media said that himself, Atiku and Peter Obi are coming together for a runoff which we don’t know will happen or not, depending on what the tribunal says,” he said, “no one was there to say they discussed working together. That is not anti-party.”
Rabiu Kwankwaso was suspended by the NNPP board of trustees for alleged anti-party conduct.
However, the crisis deepened as Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s faction of the NNPP convened a parallel National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja to overturn his suspension.
Frances Ibiefo
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