The Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, has stated that Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf did not resign from the NNPP but rather stepped down from the Kwankwasiyya Movement, a pressure group once associated with the party.
Aniebonam made the clarification on Saturday, January 24, 2026, in response to widespread reports that the governor had quit the NNPP.
Aniebonam said the governor’s resignation letter was not addressed to the authentic NNPP National Working Committee (NWC) led by Dr. Major Agbo, nor to recognised party structures such as the state chairman or ward officials, but instead was directed to a member of the Kwankwasiyya Movement in Diso-Chiranchi Ward of Gwale Local Government Area, Kano State.
He noted that the NNPP does not recognise the Kwankwasiyya Movement ward chairman as a party official.
The governor had been widely reported to have resigned from the NNPP alongside 21 members of the Kano State House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives, and 44 local government chairmen in the state, according to a statement issued on Friday, January 23, 2026, by his spokesperson, Sunusi Tofa.
The letter from Yusuf stated his decision to leave the party with effect from that date.
However, Aniebonam insisted that he, as NNPP founder and leader, was not officially informed of any resignation from the party.
He said the resignation of Yusuf and other officeholders “is not known to me as NNPP leader,” adding that the party had previously lifted the governor’s suspension and directed him to take responsibility for the party’s leadership in the state as its highest elected officer.
Aniebonam highlighted earlier court judgments that directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and hand over party administration to the Aniebonam-led Board of Trustees and to restrain INEC from engaging with the defunct Kwankwasiyya Movement.
He described the movement as a pressure group, not the registered political party that won elections under the NNPP logo.
He also attributed the confusion over resignations to administrative delays by INEC in updating its records and uploading the recognised party leadership, rather than any valid resignation from the NNPP.
Aniebonam urged members in Kano and nationwide to remain calm and committed as the party prepares for the 2027 general elections.
Aniebonam said the trend of members in Kano wanting to opt out of party structures stemmed from “the high-handedness of Kwankwaso,” which he described as regrettable, and reaffirmed the party’s confidence in future electoral success.
