Our party not factionalised — your words inconsequential, NNPP replies Ganduje

Ladipo Johnson, national publicity secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), says Abdullahi Ganduje’s comments about the party hold no weight.

On Saturday, Ganduje, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the NNPP has continued to “suffer serious lacerations due to an intractable and untreatable factionalization”.

Johnson spoke on ‘Politics HQ’, a programme on News Central, on Sunday.

“Well, the first thing I say is that Ganduje’s words are inconsequential,” he said.

“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.

“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.”

He accused the expelled members of securing a court ruling through questionable means.

“You see, these renegade group of people went to some corner of Abia state, got a default judgment,” he added.

“They served themselves. But they took before that court an old constitution. INEC was not there. We were not there.

“And they got a default judgment, which a motion has been moved to set aside. And I think the ruling is coming in June or what have you.”

Johnson alleged that the court was misled by the expelled members.

“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,” he said.

“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 the judgment was fraudulently obtained.

“So 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,” he said.

“We’re not disobeying it, because any ruling or order they got was regarding the old NNPP with the basket of fruits.

“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.

“So that judge ruled by default regarding what they brought before him, which was the old constitution. For me, Ganduje is a non-starter.”