Politics
Kano APC, NNPP Sign Peace Accord Ahead Appeal Court Judgment
Ahead of today’s Appeal Court’s scheduled judgment on the Kano governorship tussle in Abuja, the executive members of the two main rival political parties, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), have signed a peace accord before the state’s Joint Security Committee.
At the signing of the peace accord, conducted at the Kano State Police Command yesterday, members of the two political parties agreed, among others, to shun all forms of celebration and protests.
Kano State Secretary of APC, Ibrahim Zakari Sarina, and NNPP’s Deputy Chairman South, Ibrahim Dahu, assured Police Commissioner Muhammad Usaini Gumel that they would make sure that the state remains peaceful before, during, and after the delivery of judgment at the Appeal Court.
Zakari Sarina, on his part, said: “I will personally mobilise all my party members to remain calm on whatever happens at the Appeal Court and this is because we are known for keeping peace in Kano.”
Ibrahim Dahu said his members had been forewarned long ago by the government to steer clear of any violence and anybody found fomenting violence would be dealt with without delay.
The Commissioner of Police, along with the DSS Director in the State and the military chiefs, said that they have taken all necessary measures to ensure that Kano remains peaceful.
“We have worked an extra mile to ensure that we maintain the peace Kano enjoyed and we are doing all we can to arrest any unforeseen circumstances that might truncate peace,” said the joint security chiefs.
Politics
LP Crisis: Ex-NWC Member Dumps Dumps Abure Faction
Mr Ojukwu, who recently returned to the interim National Working Committee led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, noted that the party had 34 elected members in the House of Representatives, eight Senators, and 80 members at the state Houses of Assembly after the 2023 general elections.
“Now we lost all of them,” he said. “I don’t think we have as many as five members in the National Assembly.”
The former national officer of the LP talked to journalists in Abuja and said he chose to join the caretaker committee led by Senator Nenadi-Usman because they are now the officially recognized leaders of the Party.
“I chose to work with the caretaker committee to help save the Labour Party, for the benefit of the party. I also want to use this chance to ask my colleagues at the national, state, and local government levels to come together and help rebuild our party.
“Another election is around the corner. We lost everything we have. They have left to other political parties. So I’ll reach out to all my friends in the other group to get together and work on making this party stronger again.
“The caretaker committee has formed a reconciliation committee. Let’s come together and talk so that we can restore the first opposition political party in Nigeria.”
Mr Ojukwu, who was part of the Julius Abure’s group, said there are no more factions in the LP.
He added, “There is a court ruling, and since it is valid, the right people are in the correct positions.”
He urged Barr Abure and others to drop the legal cases they have filed because they are not helping the party.
“Litigations are killing political parties”, he said. “They’ve seen many political parties disappear because of legal battles, and the Labor Party is losing support every day, which makes me feel sad.”
Mr Ojukwu said he did not think joining the Senator Nenadi-Usman’s NWC was a betrayal of the Abure group, describing himself as “the oxygen” of that faction.
“I’m with this group because of the verdict. But I never betrayed anybody. Rather, I was betrayed,” he added.
