NNPP shelves presidential ticket, eyes opposition alliance

The New Nigeria People’s Party on Saturday ruled out fielding a presidential candidate for now ahead of the 2027 general election, saying it would rather explore alliances with other political parties if a credible and widely acceptable candidate emerges.

The party also dismissed speculations of a secret pact with the African Democratic Congress, insisting it had not entered into any agreement with any political party despite growing discussions around opposition coalitions.

NNPP National Chairman, Bala Yusuf, disclosed this at the party’s 11th National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja, where delegates ratified the outcomes of recent primaries in line with the Electoral Act 2026.

His comments came as the party’s National Secretary, Dipo Olayoku, lamented the mass defections that have depleted the NNPP’s ranks, including the exit of former National Leader, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso; Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf; and several other elected officials and appointees.

Speaking on the party’s position regarding the presidential race, Yusuf said the NNPP was keeping its options open and would assess candidates produced by other parties before taking a final decision.

“For now, this is the last day for the submission of anything that has to do with the selection of candidates by the INEC guidelines. We are not going to have any presidential candidate in our party, but we are open to an alliance.

“It’s not for us to have a presidential candidate that matters. Nigeria is in a very difficult situation. We need to see if other parties will bring out a very good, credible and well-focused presidential candidate. I don’t think there will be any problem joining forces with them to have a good presidential candidate.

“No, we don’t have any presidential candidates. We want to see what other parties are producing as their authentic presidential candidate. Then we’ll work towards that,” he said.

However, Yusuf rejected suggestions that the party was already leaning towards an alliance with the ADC or any other party.

Asked whether the NNPP was positioning itself to support a possible Peter Obi–Rabiu Kwankwaso ticket under another platform, he said such assumptions were premature.

He said, “Well, that is some people’s belief. But we as a party are taking this stance because I think there are over 20 political parties that are registered under INEC. And all of us cannot field candidates just for the sake of it.

“We have to sit down and see if we have very viable, presentable and qualified candidates. If we don’t have that, it’s not compulsory that we must field a presidential candidate.

“But let us see those who present themselves to other political parties, which we believe may be credible and qualified candidates. Then we’ll look at them and form an alliance to see how we can forge ahead. For now, we don’t have a pact with anybody, including the ADC.”

Earlier, the party’s National Secretary, Dipo Olayoku, acknowledged that the NNPP had endured one of the most difficult periods in its history following a wave of defections that stripped it of many of its leading figures.

In the past six months, the party has lost former National Leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and former National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, to the Nigeria Democratic Congress.

It also lost its only elected governor, Abba Yusuf of Kano State, alongside virtually all his political appointees, to the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Reflecting on the development, Olayoku said, “The past three years have not been easy for this party. All our elected members and appointees in government, which we laboured to bring into office, have left in the name of political realignment.

“We need to quickly point out that some left for good reasons without any bad blood, while others left on a sour note. This is politics, where there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends.”

Despite the setbacks, he urged party members not to lose faith.

“I want to implore all our members not to be discouraged. Let us go out there and work for our candidates and come up with results better than what we got in 2023,” he said.

Olayoku noted that while the party had suffered significant losses since its last NEC meeting in December, it remained standing and determined to rebuild.

He recalled the NNPP’s breakthrough outing in the 2023 elections, which produced its first governor and several lawmakers at both national and state levels.

“That gathering and the results from the 2023 elections catapulted the NNPP to the consciousness of national politics.

“For the first time since the party was formed in 2002, we won a governor’s seat in Kano State and also seats in the legislature both at the national and state levels. We also won elections at the local government level,” he said.