JUST IN: Court Blocks Kwankwaso’s Suspension From NNPP

A Kano State High Court has set aside the suspension of the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) from the party.

VerseNews reports that Justice Usman Na’aana on Tuesday granted an interim injunction restraining Boniface Aniebonam, Agbo Major, and 16 other respondents from parading themselves as national officers or leaders of the party pending the hearing and determination of the motion of notice.

The judge also set aside “the purported suspension of Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as member of the applicant (NNPP)”.

On August 29, 2023, the group led by NNPP chieftains — Aniebonam and Major — within the party suspended Kwankwaso for six months for hobnobbing with politicians outside the NNPP.

Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, who came fourth in this year’s presidential election.

The Aniebonam and Major group, which controls NNPP Board of Trustees said “material evidence” in public affirmed that Kwankwaso was involved in “anti-party activities in various meetings” and political discussions with President Bola Tinubu, then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC); his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar; and Labour Party (LP)’s Peter Obi.

The group would subsequently expel Kwankwaso over “failure to appear before the Disciplinary Committee”.

The Aniebonam and Major group also accused Kwankwaso of “financial impropriety relating to the mismanagement of public funds”.

However, the Kano court stopped Aniebonam, Major and 16 other respondents from parading themselves as party officials and fixed October 5, 2023 for the case.