Summit Post 
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has said that no automatic presidential ticket for aspirants would is seeking to contest the party’s 2023 general election.
The outgoing National Secretary of the party, Ambassador Agbo Gilbert Major, stated this in Abuja, on the sidelines of the Special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, he said the meeting was aimed at taking crucial decisions that will reposition the party ahead of 2023.
Major noted that the party is in talks with the former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, over his possible defection to the party ahead of the 2023 General Elections.
He said that Kwankwaso’s planned defection to the NNPP is part of the grand strategy to reposition the party for great achievements during the 2023 general elections.
He said: “Nigerians are getting set for the general election and we are meeting to reposition the party, and the frontiers are opening, a lot of Nigerians are coming in and there is need for us to adjust and accommodate the interests that are coming in.
“These are the very crucial decisions that we are about to take and it is going to midwife a national convention which will hold within the next 30 days. We have read Nigerians speculating, the only thing I can tell you is that we are in deep talks with Kwankwaso, in fact we have almost concluded, in the next few days, we will be reverting to Nigerians to tell them what understanding we have had with him (Kwankwaso), but I can assure you that he is on his way into NNPP.
“The presidential ticket is not automatic, he (Kwankwaso) has told us that his moves towards coming into the party should not be seen as an attempt to take the ticket automatically, and we have encouraged other aspirants to come so that we can fully demonstrate the power of the rights of people,” he said.
Ruling on the automatics presidential ticket for Kwankwaso, major said other aspirants would be given the opportunity to contest for it.
Major also said the party will not be going into any coalition or merge with any group or political party, as this had been tried in the past without meaningful result.
“We have never been part of any coalition, it is important to let you know that the NNPP is a very old party and so we have seen a lot of these things come and go, we have never believed in this coalition thing because we have experimented it.
“In 2007 we went into some form of electoral alliance, we did not get what we wanted to get, coming together entails either a merger arrangement or a coalition, we have experimented with coalition repeatedly, and it has not given us any result, the only thing they have tried and it worked is the merger”.
Members of the Caretaker Committee were sworn in immediately with the outgoing national chairman becoming the Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman.
AVM John Chris Ifeimeje (Retd) emerged the acting national chairman in the national caretaker committee of the party. The caretaker committee was shared between the party’s old NNPP members and other members of the Kwankwaso groups.
Some of the prominent Kwankwaso loyalists that attend the meeting include former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali; former National Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Engr. Buba Galadima; and former Kaduna Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi among others.
Also, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) National Executive Committee (NEC) were dissolved the Party’s State and National Executives and constituted a Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the party for one month, paving way for its National Convention when new National Officers will be elected. Motions were moved and adopted to amend some provisions of the Party Constitution ahead of its National Convention. Members of the Caretaker Committee were sworn in immediately as the Party strategize for the 2023 general election.
