The founder of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Boniface Aniebonam, says the party will contest the Ondo and Edo governorship elections later this year.

INEC scheduled the off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo for September 22 and November 16, respectively.

INEC released the list of the 17 political parties and their candidates for the Edo governorship election on March 31.

The NNPP and its candidate were among them.

Similarly, on March 30, INEC announced that 19 political parties, including the NNPP, had indicated interest in contesting the Ondo governorship election.

Mr 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 party leaders 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 daydreaming. 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 was held in Abuja on April 6, Mr 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 the NNPP, not to remove the chairman of another political party. That is dirty politics, in my estimation.”

He, however, assured that all issues in the party would be resolved and urged all NNPP members to be committed to the peace and progress of the party.

(NAN)