Founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, has said Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf did not resign from the NNPP, but from the Kwankwasiya Movement led by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Aniebonam made the clarification on Saturday, 24 January 2026, reacting to reports circulating in the media that the governor had resigned from the NNPP.
In a statement, Aniebonam argued that the governor’s resignation letter was not sent to what he described as the authentic NNPP National Working Committee (NWC) led by Dr. Major Agbo, or to the party’s state chairman or ward secretary. Instead, he said the letter was addressed to a member of the Kwankwasiya Movement in Diso-Chiranchi Ward, Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State.
He added, “The NNPP NWC does not recognise the Kwankwasiya Movement ward chairman as chairman of the party.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that Governor Yusuf was said to have resigned alongside 21 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, eight members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, and 44 local government chairmen in the state.
The resignation was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday, 23 January 2026, by the governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Tofa.
According to the report, Yusuf wrote a letter to the Chairman of Diso-Chiranchi Ward of the NNPP in Gwale Local Government Area, informing the party of his decision to leave with effect from Friday, 23 January 2026. In the letter, he said: “I write with a deep sense of gratitude to formally notify the leadership of the New Nigeria People’s Party of my decision to resign my membership of the party, with effect from Friday, 23rd January 2026.”
However, Aniebonam insisted that the resignation of Yusuf and other political officeholders was not recognised by him in his capacity as the NNPP leader, founder, and Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees.
He said the party had earlier lifted Yusuf’s suspension from membership and directed him to take responsibility for the party’s leadership as the highest elected officer on the NNPP platform.
Aniebonam also referenced court decisions involving the party and Nigeria’s election management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He said judgments from the Abia State High Court and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court directed INEC to recognise and hand over the NNPP administration to the Aniebonam-led Board of Trustees.
He added that the FCT High Court issued an enrolment order restraining INEC from dealing with or transacting business with the Kwankwasiya Movement.
Aniebonam described the NNPP as a registered political party, while he said the Kwankwasiya Movement was a pressure group within the party. He stated that its Memorandum of Association was terminated, and that the entire former NWC led by Dr. Ahmed Ajuji was expelled for alleged anti-party activities after the 2023 presidential elections.
He also stressed that Yusuf and the Kano lawmakers won elections on the NNPP platform using the party’s “Basket of Fruits” logo, not the Kwankwasiya symbol associated with a book and red colour.
On INEC’s records, Aniebonam said the delay in updating and uploading the Dr. Agbo Major and Mr. Oginni Olaposi-led NWC amounted to administrative lapses. He said this, in his view, was not connected to the court judgments, which he insisted must be obeyed.
He stated that a judicial review at the FCT High Court was ongoing to compel INEC to update its records.
While noting the governor’s reasons for stepping away, Aniebonam said the NNPP had no dispute with Yusuf and that the governor was free to make personal political decisions.
He also blamed the growing push by some members in Kano State to opt out of the structure on what he described as Kwankwaso’s high-handed approach, calling it regrettable.
Aniebonam urged party members in Kano State and across the country to remain calm and committed, saying the NNPP was looking ahead to more victories in Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.