NNPP to INEC: Disregard purported congress notice

A caucus of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ignore a “purported notice” of congress issued by a faction of the party.

The appeal was made on Friday in Abuja by the NNPP National Secretary, Oginni Sunday, who belongs to the faction loyal to the party’s founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam.

Sunday dismissed the convention notice signed on behalf of the Rabiu Kwankwaso-led group—described by him as merely a pressure group within the party—saying the move violated an FCT High Court judgment delivered on April 3.

Citing the ruling in suit No. FCT/HC/CV/5518/2024, he described the signatories, Dr. Ahmed Ajuji and Dipo Olayoku, as “meddlesome interlopers,” insisting that the court had already resolved issues relating to the proposed convention.

According to him, the same faction had previously sought to stop the lawful congress and convention initiated by the Aniebonam-led BoT in a case filed at the FCT High Court on December 16, 2024.

He further noted that the Abia State High Court had, on November 1, 2024, also halted efforts to disrupt the party’s congresses in suit No. HUZ/11/2024.

Sunday explained that the April 3 judgment delivered by Justice M.A. Hassan dismissed the suit brought by the Ajuji-led faction against the Aniebonam-aligned leadership.

“By implication, the Ajuji group are the judgment debtors, while the Aniebonam-led NNPP remains the judgment creditor,” he said.

He expressed shock that despite not appealing the ruling, Ajuji and Olayoku still wrote to INEC seeking to conduct what he termed an “illegal convention and congress,” describing the action as a direct affront to the valid congresses held in December 2024 and January 2025.

Sunday confirmed that the NNPP had formally written to INEC to distance itself from the factional exercise, expressing confidence that the commission would act appropriately.

However, on April 3, Justice Hassan of the FCT High Court dismissed a suit filed by a faction loyal to Rabiu Kwankwaso challenging the legitimacy of the Aniebonam-led leadership, including National Chairman Dr. Agbo Major.

The case, filed by Ajuji and 20 others, sought to invalidate the authority of the NNPP’s BoT and executive members such as National Secretary Oginni Olaposi, Deputy National Chairman Chief Felix Chukwurah, and legal practitioner Tony Obioha.

The claimants asked the court to bar them from holding meetings or conducting congresses, alleging they had been expelled.

Justice Hassan ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction, holding that internal party affairs—including leadership and membership disputes—are not issues for judicial intervention.