The Founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, says the party will contest the Ondo and Edo governorship elections to be held later this year.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) scheduled the off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo State for Sept. 22 and Nov. 16, respectively
INEC, on March 31, released the list of the 17 political parties and their candidates for the Edo governorship election.
The NNPP and its candidate were among.
Similarly, INEC, on March 30, announced that 19 political parties, including the NNPP, had indicated interest to contest in the Ondo State governorship election.
Aniebonam, in a statement in Lagos on Thursday, regarding internal wranglings in NNPP and its effects on the polls, said that the party would overcome the crisis.
The founder and former chairman of the NNPP Board of Trustees blamed some leaders of the party for the crisis.
“NNPP has never stayed away from active participation in elections nationwide, which is why we were not deregistered by INEC since 2001 that I founded and registered the party.
“Some of the people who think they can muscle in and take over a party that took us many years to build are day-dreaming.
“NNPP, despite any issues it may be having regarding candidacy, will be part of the elections in Edo and Ondo states,” he said.
On the purported national convention of the party that held in Abuja on April 6, Aniebonam said: “That convention was held in spite of a lawsuit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, that tried to halt the convention.
“Most of those self-acclaimed leaders of NNPP at the convention were already expelled from the party for anti-party activities.
“The real leadership of the NNPP is not interested in inter-party wranglings and manipulations.
“Our mission is to grow NNPP and not to remove a chairman of another political party. That is dirty politics in my estimation,” Aniebonam said.
He, however, assured that all issues in the party would be resolved, urged all NNPP members to be committed to the peace and progress of the party
(NAN)
