The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has declared that it will not bow to blackmail or pressure to backdate the resignation processes of elected public officials who abandoned the party without completing formal departure procedures.
The warning was issued on Sunday by the party’s Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, in response to growing moves by affected politicians seeking to regularize their status retroactively.
The party stressed that attempting to falsify membership and resignation records amounts to criminality and will not be accommodated under any circumstances.
The controversy stems from an official letter sent by the NNPP leadership to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday, October 19.
Jointly signed by National Chairman Dr. Agbo Major and General Secretary Mr. Oginni Olaposi, the correspondence notified the electoral body that prominent figures including Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, two Senators, 18 members of the House of Representatives, and 28 Kano State House of Assembly members had failed to fulfill constitutional and statutory requirements for resigning from the party before aligning with rival platforms for the 2027 general elections.
According to the NNPP, the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act mandate that resignations must originate at the ward level and be formally documented and recorded at the national secretariat, where the national secretary maintains the official membership register.
The party noted that many defectors mistakenly believe that public declarations during legislative plenaries or unrecorded ward-level letters suffice, leaving them trapped in a double-membership status that violates Nigerian electoral laws.
The Party announced that the notification submitted to INEC will soon be updated to include similar cases involving members from Katsina and Jigawa states. While asserting that it is not scheming to force members to return and respects individual freedom of association, the NNPP insisted that due process must be followed to the letter.
“In the event of a post-election lawsuit by opponents requiring the NNPP to present records of resignation, we will do so,” the party stated, adding that betrayers unable to produce valid, documented proof of resignation remain legally bound to the NNPP and cannot validly fly the flags of other political parties in 2027.
