El-Rufai’s correct, FG stoking crisis in opposition parties -NNPP

From Okwe Obi, Abuja

The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has agreed with the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, over his remarks that the Federal Government was behind the crisis rocking the opposition parties.

NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, in a statement yesterday, argued that the legal battle the party faced after the Kano State governorship election and the utterances of some perceived members revealed that the government of the day was behind it.

He said: “It is true that the former Kaduna Governor, el-Rufai was stating the obvious, going by the antecedents of these impostors. During the tribunal case involving Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, these renegades publicly supported the APC and similarly did so during the Emirship tussle and the local government election.

“Having supported the position of the APC as against that of our party, the NNPP, and at times going out of their way to issue press statements in this regard, anyone in his or her right senses would naturally be of the opinion that these people are not members of the NNPP but apologists or covert agents of the APC.

“But, of course, they are not our members and the public, particularly the press, should see them as such by cross-checking our factual position here with INEC.

“We do agree though that the public perception that they are acting out the script of their paymasters is logical and seems convincing.”

Johnson also cleared the air on the membership of one Oginni Sunday, who had issued a statement on behalf of the NNPP, stating that Oginni had been expelled from the party a long time ago and lacked the right to speak on behalf of the party.

“NNPP denounced every word attributed to Oginni, affirming that he and others had since been expelled from the party over anti-party activities and wondered how and in what capacity he could be issuing a press statement on behalf of the party.

“The question of faction as erroneously being reported in the press does not arise. It’s absolutely uninformed, a misplaced identity and should be discontinued henceforth. Oginni and his cohort are not members of the party and do not constitute a faction in fact or in law. They have no authority to speak on behalf of the NNPP,” he said.