The New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, has alleged that its former presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is still meddling in the party’s affairs despite his exit.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ogini Olaposi, made the allegation in a statement on Tuesday.

Olaposi said Kwankwaso has continued to wield influence within the party through loyalists allegedly left behind after his departure.

“Kwankwaso is not only trying to hijack political power in NDC Kano, he has continued to drag the NNPP for reasons best known to him.

“Some members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement are the ones he left behind to continue the litigation that Kwankwaso initiated,” the party said.

According to the party, Kwankwaso’s political influence in Kano has diminished significantly, alleging that many of his key allies have defected to the APC.

“NDC should be smart and intelligent enough to understand that Kwankwaso’s structure was in the past organic in Kano State, but at the moment all his commanding officers have joined the APC,” the statement added.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has rejected allegations by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary was manipulated in his favour.

In a statement released on Tuesday by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Lawal had failed to provide any evidence to support the claims, describing the allegations as speculation without evidence and “an unfortunate cocktail of bitterness, conjecture, and political revisionism masquerading as public interest.”

“Mr Lawal spent nearly an hour making grave accusations about the conduct of the ADC presidential primary. Yet he failed to produce a single piece of verifiable evidence,” the statement said.

“No document. No petition. No result sheet. No witness statement. No recording. Nothing.”

The ADC presidential candidate argued that Lawal’s comments were driven by disappointment after his preferred candidate lost the primary.

“What the interview ultimately revealed was not a whistleblower exposing wrongdoing but a disappointed political actor struggling to come to terms with the failure of his preferred candidate,” Atiku said.

He added that Lawal had openly supported another aspirant before the primary and was now trying to present his disappointment as a moral concern.

Atiku also dismissed claims that he influenced the outcome of the primary across the country, saying it was unrealistic to suggest he controlled the votes of thousands of party members nationwide.

He further criticised Lawal’s recent remark that he could easily obtain financial assistance from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if needed.

“More revealing, however, was Mr Lawal’s astonishing confession on national television that if he ever needed money, all he had to do was call President Tinubu and the money would reach him before he got home,” Atiku said.

He said Nigerians have heard and seen him, and they can draw their own conclusions from the implications of such a remarkable declaration.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for deciding to appeal court rulings that struck out parts of its timetable for the 2027 general elections.

Speaking after a meeting between INEC and leaders of registered political parties in Abuja on Tuesday, SDP National Chairman, Prof. Sadiq Gombe, said the commission should not challenge the judgments because they would give political parties and candidates more time to prepare for elections.

Gombe said, “INEC has no right to appeal the ruling because of the timing of the election and so on.”

He added that the judgments would create more opportunities for campaigns and allow candidates who lost party primaries to still exercise their political rights.

While insisting that INEC was free to pursue the appeal, he said, “We don’t feel there is any need for INEC to appeal that. But it also has the right to.”

On the party’s leadership crisis, Gombe said the SDP remained open to reconciliation with members of the rival faction led by former National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam.

According to him, the party’s constitution provides room for discipline and reconciliation.

Gombe also maintained that leadership disputes are internal matters for political parties and not for INEC to decide. He said, “INEC doesn’t determine who should be the chairman of a political party. It is the party itself.”

His comments came after INEC announced it had appealed two Federal High Court judgments that questioned aspects of its 2027 election timetable.

The electoral body said it was seeking clarification on important legal issues, warning that changes to the timetable could affect the smooth planning and conduct of elections.