The New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Tinubu administration of utilizing all possible strategies to destabilise the party.

Currently, the NNPP is split into two rival factions: one loyal to Rabiu Kwankwaso and the Kwankwasiya Movement, and the other led by Dr Boniface Aniebonam and Dr Agbo Gilbert Major.

Following the 2023 general elections, Major and Aniebonam were expelled from the party due to allegations of anti-party activities, yet they have remained defiant.

DAILY POST reports that both individuals have sought legal recourse in various courts nationwide, initially without success, until they recently obtained favorable rulings from courts, including a directive from the FCT High Court in Maitama instructing the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognise the Major-led National Working Committee, NWC.

Despite this faction not conducting primary elections and not being included in the membership register submitted to INEC by the NWC led by Bala Yunusa Muhammed, INEC has granted them access to its portal to submit the names of candidates for the upcoming 2027 general elections.

During a press conference at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, Mohammed, the National Chairman of the NNPP aligned with Kwankwaso, expressed his astonishment at INEC’s prompt recognition of the Major-led faction, despite previous assurances to collaborate with his faction.

When asked about the origins of the NNPP crisis, the party Chair stated, “The ruling party or the current government is likely responsible, as we have consistently received favorable judgments until suddenly, they approached a lower court in Abuja and Abia State, obtaining a default judgment. It is widely understood that a judgment cannot be rendered without a fair hearing for both parties involved.

“For such a judgment to be issued, it is evident that something is amiss. There are unseen influences at play, indicating that certain forces are behind these actions.”

In discussing the reasons he believes the APC and the current government are intent on undermining the NNPP, he remarked, “Following the 2023 general election, we emerged as the third most popular political party in Nigeria. Consequently, these forces perceive our party as a threat and are attempting to instigate chaos within our ranks. They have begun to exploit expelled members of our party, providing them with funding to create unrest within our organization.

“INEC acted prematurely. They should have upheld the status quo they communicated to us during our meeting at their office. We are uncertain as to why they altered their position. If a judgment is rendered and we are dissatisfied with it, we have the right to appeal. It is imperative that they wait for the appeal to be resolved before making any decisions. However, they did not wait; they hastily made a decision by appointing individuals who are not even recognized as members of the NNPP.

“These individuals have been expelled and are not included in the NNPP membership register, as INEC has mandated that all party member registrations be conducted electronically and submitted by May 10th, which we have complied with. Therefore, it is unacceptable to appoint someone who is not a member of the party to lead it.”

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Joash Ojo Amupita, has assured stakeholders that the commission is logistically, technically and operationally ready to conduct a credible governorship election in Osun State on August 15, 2026. 

He stated that INEC will deliver a credible election in line with the Electoral Act 2026 and its established regulations and guidelines.

Amupitan gave the assurance on Wednesday while addressing political parties, security agencies, civil society organisations, traditional rulers, election observers and media representatives at the Osun State Governorship Election Stakeholders’ Forum held in Osogbo. 

He described the gathering as an accountability platform where the commission presented its operational readiness ahead of the poll and said comprehensive readiness audits had been completed across the state’s 30 local government area offices, adding that the commission was fully prepared to conduct a transparent electoral process. 

“Following comprehensive readiness audits across our 30 Local Government Area offices, I am here to assure you that the Commission is logistically, technologically and operationally prepared to deliver an election that fully satisfies the standards of the Electoral Act 2026,” he said.

The INEC chairman disclosed that the certified register for the election contained 2,339,233 registered voters across 30 local government areas, 332 registration areas and 3,763 polling units, while 14 political parties would participate in the governorship contest. 

He announced that the collection of Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, had been extended until Friday, July 31, after 322,822 newly registered voters, representing 62 per cent, collected their cards before the earlier deadline.

According to him, “the commission adopted the extension to ensure that no eligible voter was disenfranchised, while additional security would be deployed around PVC collection centres. Invalid and multiple registrations had been removed through the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), leaving only verified eligible voters on the register.

“INEC had strengthened its logistics by establishing 97 Super Registration Area Centres and 105 Registration Area Centres to facilitate early deployment of election materials. 

“Transportation agreements with transport unions would be fully concluded before the election, while all polling units were expected to commence accreditation and voting by 8.30 a.m.”

The INEC chairman also highlighted the commission’s technological preparations, revealing that 4,427 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, devices, including 664 backup units, had been customised for the election. 

He stressed that biometric verification remained the only legal means of accreditation and that there would be no manual accreditation, while polling unit results would be uploaded directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV.

Addressing security concerns, Amupitan said INEC had integrated an Electoral Risk Management framework into its planning and was working closely with the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES noting that intelligence-led deployments would focus on identified flashpoints to prevent violence, ballot disruption and voter intimidation.

The chairman also reassured residents following the theft of uncollected PVCs from INEC offices in Odo-Otin and Ife Central local government areas, stating that stolen cards could not be used to vote without successful biometric verification adding that affected PVCs would either be reprinted or replaced with downloadable versions for eligible voters.

On vote-buying, Amupitan disclosed that the commission had partnered with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and other relevant agencies to combat both physical and electronic inducement of voters warning that anyone attempting to compromise the electoral process would face the full weight of the law.

Speaking at the forum, the National Commissioner supervising Oyo, Osun, Ogun and Ondo States, Professor Kunle Ajayi, urged the media and civil society organisations to collaborate with INEC to ensure a peaceful and successful election.

He said the commission had introduced safeguards, including the BVAS and IReV platforms, to prevent manipulation of the electoral process.

Ajayi called on political parties, candidates and their supporters to conduct their campaigns peacefully and obey electoral laws and urged traditional rulers to continue promoting peace and encouraging the media to report the election professionally and without bias.

Earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun State, Oluwatoyin Babalola, welcomed stakeholders and appreciated their continued collaboration with the commission. 

She said the stakeholders’ meeting was organised to brief participants on INEC’s level of preparedness, disclosing that ad-hoc staff training would take place from July 31 to August 9 across all local government areas, election materials had already arrived in the state and were secured at the Central Bank of Nigeria, while security agencies had concluded preparations to ensure that eligible voters cast their ballots in a peaceful, free and fair election.

The Social Democratic Party, SDP, has denied reports that its Osun State chapter has collapsed its structure to support the All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate, Mr Bola Oyebamiji, ahead of the August 15, governorship election.

Recall that a factional Osun SDP Chairman, Mr Remi Omidire, had purportedly adopted Oyebamiji for the poll, in a letter addressed to the APC State Chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Lawal..

Reacting to the development in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos, the Chairman of SDP State Chairmen in Nigeria, Mr Femi Olaniyi (Ferrari), said the Osun chapter of the party remained intact and had not endorsed any political party or candidate.

Olaniyi said the letter, purportedly signed by Omidire, was false and did not emanate from the authentic leadership of the party in Osun under the leadership of Mr Funsho Fabiyi.

Describing it as the handiwork of mischief makers aimed at misleading the public, Olaniyi, said the Fabiyi-led party leadership had neither collapsed its structure nor entered into any alliance with the APC or its governorship candidate.

He maintained that the party remained committed to contesting the governorship election.

“The Osun State chapter of the SDP has not, and will not, collapse its structure for any political party. SDP is not for sale,” he said.

Olaniyi cautioned those behind the alleged fake news to desist from spreading false information or face legal consequences.

“We warn all perpetrators of this fake news to desist immediately or face the full wrath of the law,” he said.

He reiterated that the SDP remained committed to its mission of rescuing Osun State through the democratic process.

He urged party members and supporters to disregard the report, insisting that the SDP remained focused on its campaign ahead of the governorship election.