Ex-NNPP Chairman, 25 Others Dump Party For APC
No fewer than 26 chieftains of the New Nigeria People’s Party, including three governorship candidates, and the immediate past National Chairman of the party, Prof Rufa’i Alkali, defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress on Tuesday.
The development came two days after the South East chapter of the NNPP disowned the presidential candidate and leader of the party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, and settled for Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, who founded the party 22 years ago.
The defectors who arrived at the APC national secretariat in Abuja around 3.35pm were received by the party’s national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
Explaining why they switched allegiance from the NNPP to the APC, Alkali told newsmen on Tuesday that they found the ruling party to be an accommodating platform for any serious politician.
He said, “Mr Chairman sir, before you today are some of the leading members of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, indeed the cream of the party who recently resigned from the party. As Your Excellency may be aware, most of us seated here participated actively in building and strengthening the NNPP political base as a formidable political movement that enabled the party to field candidates in virtually every electable position throughout the 36 States of the Federation and Abuja.
“We took time to consult widely with our friends, associates and supporters before we concluded that following our departure from the NNPP and PDP, if we must advance forward, our next destination should be the APC. As usual, we know the temptation for some people is to say that we are joining the APC now because it is the ruling party at the federal level in the country, but as far as we are concerned, this is far from the truth.
“To us, the APC is more accommodating. We are even more convinced that there is a sense of urgency to address the political, economic and social issues that confront our country in order to bring greater good to the greater number of Nigerians, especially the poor, the underprivileged, the women, the youth and other vulnerable groups in our society. And we believe His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will see us through.”
Welcoming the former NNPP chieftains, Ganduje told the audience that he knew much about the merger that evolved into the present NNPP.
“It was a decent party before it was bought and polluted by the Kwankwasiyya (movement). But you have done well by retracing your step to the right party, which is the APC. I promise to convey your congratulatory message to President Bola Tinubu and arrange for you to meet him face to face,” he said.
