The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has dismissed reports claiming that its national leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, held talks to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the claims as false and deliberately misleading.
The party said Kwankwaso never entered into negotiations with the ruling party nor made any demands to President Bola Tinubu, contrary to speculations circulating in some quarters.
The rumours followed claims that Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, had defected to the APC, with suggestions that the NNPP subsequently fell out with Kwankwaso over what was described as his “high demands” during alleged talks with the ruling party.
Fueling the speculation, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Global Investment and Trade Company, Baba Yusuf, said on Arise Television on Friday that Kwankwaso misjudged his political leverage in the reported negotiations.
“I will agree with the second outcome you mentioned — that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso overreached,” Yusuf said.
However, responding to the reports, the NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, dismissed the claims as “blatant lies,” insisting that no discussion on defection ever took place.
Johnson said Kwankwaso neither contemplated leaving the NNPP nor engaged President Tinubu or the APC on joining the ruling party.
“It is a blatant lie that Kwankwaso made demands or entered into negotiations with the APC or President Tinubu for his defection. That never happened,” he said.
Johnson clarified that the last meeting between Kwankwaso and President Tinubu occurred in 2024 and was unrelated to any political realignment.
“The last time he met the President was in 2024, and there was no discussion whatsoever about defecting to the APC. Those pushing these false narratives are doing so deliberately to discredit him and prevent him from aligning with other opposition forces,” he added.
He described Kwankwaso as a principled politician whose actions are guided by public interest rather than personal ambition.
“Kwankwaso is a man of integrity who understands politics and plays it with the interest of the Nigerian people at heart,” Johnson said.
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