- Ladipo Johnson of NNPP rejected Ganduje’s claim of factionalism within the party, calling it "inconsequential"
- He accused expelled members of manipulating the judicial system and misleading the court in Abia State
- Johnson highlighted recent changes in the party, including a new logo and constitution, rendering old materials irrelevant
The National Publicity Secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ladipo Johnson, has dismissed recent claims made by Abdullahi Ganduje, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), regarding alleged divisions within the NNPP, describing them as "inconsequential" and unfounded.
Speaking on Politics HQ, a programme aired on News Central, Johnson criticised Ganduje’s understanding of political terminology, particularly in reference to accusations of factionalism within the party.
“Well, the first thing I say is that Ganduje’s words are inconsequential, Two, Ganduje needs to go and open the dictionary and learn the meaning of the word ‘factions’, or ‘faction’, or ‘factionalised’. He really needs to go and learn it. We don’t have a faction, we don’t have factions within the NNPP,” Johnson stated.
Ganduje had previously claimed that the NNPP was suffering from “serious lacerations due to an intractable and untreatable factionalisation,” but Johnson firmly rejected this assertion.
He explained that what Ganduje referred to as factions were, in fact, expelled members who were still using outdated party materials, including the old NNPP logo.
“You have some people who are expelled, who carry the logo, an old logo that has been changed. The logo is not before INEC. INEC is clear as to who, or which person, or who the national chairman of the NNPP is,” Johnson clarified.
The NNPP spokesperson went on to accuse the expelled individuals of manipulating the judicial system to obtain a ruling in their favour. He described the group as “renegades” who, according to him, went to a local court in Abia State and obtained a default judgement.
“These renegade group of people went to some corner of Abia state, got a default judgment, They served themselves. But they took before that court an old constitution. INEC was not there. We were not there,” Johnson explained.
Johnson added that a motion had already been filed to set aside the judgment, with a ruling expected in June.
He emphasised that the expelled members had failed to inform the court of an existing judgment from the Federal High Court, which ruled that they were no longer members of the party.
“When you went to do that, did you tell the courts that, ‘oh, there’s a subsisting judgment of the federal high court that says we are no longer members?’ They didn’t say that, They went, they misled the court in Abia. I’ve forgotten the town. Some corner of Abia, not in the middle, or not at the city centre. And that is what they did,” he said.
Johnson went on to categorically reject the legitimacy of the judgment, calling it “fraudulent,” but affirmed that the NNPP would abide by the ruling until it is set aside in court.
“As far as we’re concerned, it was obtained by fraud, et cetera, et cetera. But are we disobeying it, pending the setting aside? The answer is no, We’re not disobeying it, because any ruling or order they got was regarding the old NNPP with the basket of fruits,” he added.
The NNPP spokesperson concluded by highlighting the significant changes the party had undergone since April 2024, including a new logo and constitution, which he argued had rendered the old materials and judgements irrelevant.
“They forgot that in April 2024, the logo and colours and constitution of the NNPP had been changed to red and white, educational book, et cetera, et cetera,” Johnson said.
Ending his remarks with a pointed dismissal of Ganduje, Johnson concluded, “For me, Ganduje is a non-starter.”
2027: Nigerians, not politicians, will decide if Tinubu deserves 2nd term - Atiku
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Atiku Abubakar emphasised that only the Nigerian people can choose their president in 2027, responding to claims of Tinubu’s guaranteed second term.
The former Vice President emphasised that the decision on re-election belongs solely to the electorate, not political elites.
