Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is to be probed by a faction of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for allegedly misappropriating the sum of N1 billion.
The planned probe of the NNPP presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election is the latest development in the crisis rocking the party.
The NNPP faction led by Acting National Chairman Major Agbo, which announced the decision to probe Kwankwaso and some of his loyalists said the misappropriated sum was realised from the sale of nomination forms.
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The Agbo-led faction had last week suspended Kwankwaso, and the Abba Kawu Alli-led National Working Committee (NWC) for six months.
However, the NWC, which is loyal to Kwankwaso, had earlier announced the expulsion of Agbo and chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT) Dr Boniface Aniebonam.
Both camps are accusing each other of engaging in anti-party activities.
But the crisis has taken a new twist with the Agbo-led faction accusing Kwankwaso of misappropriation of party funds.
The statement released by factional National Publicity Secretary, Abdulsalam Abdulrasaq, after a meeting at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja, said security agencies would be involved in probing the alleged misappropriation.
“The NNPP will conduct a thorough probe into the mismanagement of well over one billion naira raised from the sale of forms to aspirants from March 2022 to date.
“The meeting resolved to invite relevant security agencies to properly examine the accounts of the party with a view to demanding explanations from the party’s presidential candidate, the party’s chairman who left in March 2023, the sacked acting chairman, and the National Secretary.
“This is to restore the confidence of party members and candidates who came forward with their hard-earned money to purchase forms.”
The Agbo-led faction, in the statement, further accused a member of the Kwankwaso camp, Buba Galadima, of imposition of candidates and other acts of corruption.
The statement noted that Kwankwaso’s private residence was used as the party’s Situation Room during the election, in contravention of party rules.
“The party also queried the rationale for the location of the Situation Room in the presidential candidate’s personal residence.
“It noted that the illegal location created room for massive corruption and manipulation leading to the imposition of candidates by Buba Galadima and his co-travellers and resolved to set up a committee to launch a probe into it. It therefore called for written complaints from aggrieved candidates who were short changed after making payments for forms into the party’s account.”
The Agbo faction, in the same vein, alleged that other prospective aspirants were denied forms for the party’s presidential primary election, paving the way for Kwankwaso to emerge as the candidate.
“The party also resolved to query the rationale behind the denial of other presidential aspirants the right to purchase form and participate in the primary election that illegally produced Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso insisting that it was against the spirit of fairness and equity which our great party preaches.
“The party called on its numerous members and supporters to remain calm in the face of this brazen assault of the Kwankwasiya movement whose members were erroneously made to believe the party is sold to them and called on all aggrieved and displaced members who left for whatever reason to return home. The party resolved to overhaul its structures across all levels nationwide in the coming days and weeks,” the statement added.
In an exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER, Agbo had alleged that Kwankwaso did not bring any money to the NNPP.
“I haven’t seen Kwankwaso bring in any money. If he has, I am not aware of it,” Agbo told THE WHISTLER.
Agbo, who accused Kwankwaso of high-handedness, also said the former senator was planning to hijack the party from its founders, led by former chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) Aniebonam.
But Agbo also declared that the original owners of the NNPP have taken back their party, and as such, Kwankwaso and his group are on their own.