The New Nigeria People’s Party has faulted Rabiu Kwankwaso for describing members of the Kwankwassiya Movement, who defected to the APC, as betrayers, insisting that Mr Kwankwaso is the betrayer.

Mr Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano and leader of the  Kwankwasiyya Movement, slammed some key members of the NNPP in Kano for defecting to APC, accusing them of betrayal of trust.

Mr Kwankwaso stated this at his Miller Road residence in Kano on Friday evening, when some caucus members of the Kwankwassiya movement from Takai Local Government Area of the state, visited him on invitation.

Abdulrahman Kawu, who represents the Kano South senatorial district at the National Assembly, recently defected to the APC along with some federal lawmakers from Kano.

In a statement on Monday, NNPP’s national chairman, Agbo Major, said that Mr Kwankwaso cannot speak for the party.

“Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has been expelled from NNPP and, together with his followers, led by Dr Ahmed Ajuji,” said Mr Major.

According to Mr Major, the Kwankwassiya movement is not a political party but a group admitted into the NNPP in the wake of the 2023 presidential election, where their leader became the party’s flag bearer.

Mr Major stated that the NNPP found it funny that Kwankwaso would be calling out some members of the movement who joined the APC as betrayers of the party.

“The NNPP has long severed its memorandum of understanding with Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasia movement after the presidential elections in 2023, hence, members of the movement as Nigerian citizens,  are legally free to join any political party of their choice.

“The same Kwankwaso who betrayed the trust reposed in him by the NNPP when he tried to hijack the party,  is the one calling others betrayers. Nigerians have the constitutional right to join and belong to any political party of their choice,” the NNPP leader explained.

He added, “Therefore, Kwankwaso who have long lost control of his Kwankwassiya movement cannot stop his members from belonging to the APC and or any other political party in Nigeria. Kwankwaso lost all respects from his followers,  when he tried to bite the fingers that gave him the presidential ticket on trust without any financial obligations.

“Kwankwaso has long been expelled from the NNPP and should either register his own party or look for another political platform to hijack.
“His members defecting to the APC simply shows that he has also lost control of the movement, just like he lost his planned hijack of the NNPP,  registered in 2002  before his entrance in 2023. Kwankwaso’s political career ended with his expulsion from the NNPP and the consequent defection of his followers.”

(NAN)