The acting National chairman of a faction of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Agbo Major, on Sunday, said the party has already filed an appeal on the judgement by the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal which nullified the election of Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf last week in Kano.
Agbo in an interview with Nigerian Tribune in Abuja said while the tribunal has delivered its rulings, the party is already working and studying the judgement and hence will not engage in the court of public opinion as far as the case is concerned. He described the ruling as a miscarriage of justice saying the judges have another opportunity to redeem themselves from the mistakes they have made.
“We are worried about the fate that has befallen us before the tribunal. We won’t want to speak from the level of public opinion because the law is the law. They have done what they felt they should do as judges. Our team is working on it (judgement) to bring out the loopholes and the places where they (judges) made mistakes, where they didn’t do well in considering the judgement that they eventually arrived at.
“So, as I speak to you now, the party is looking at all the angles to it. And of course, we have served them with the notice of appeal that we are not comfortable with that judgement. It is a miscarriage of justice. But like I said, we don’t want to give in to the court of public opinion, the views of the public. It is for the judiciary to handle. Again, they (judges) have an opportunity to redeem themselves. If mistakes have been made by a few of them who are directly in charge of that matter, they have a second opportunity at the lower level to see how they can do the right thing.”
When asked that Nigerians had thought that his faction would distance itself from what has happened to the party, Agbo said, “There is no leadership crisis in the party. I have continued to tell you media people that our constitution is very unique in the way it is. All that has happened in the party have all happened along the line of the provision of the constitution which is that if the party finds itself in this type of situation that we find ourselves about two months ago, the Board of Trustees (BoT) steps in to stabilise the party and invoke all the relevant sections of the constitution which gives them the power to stabilise the party and they have done that. And that is exactly what gave birth to the new National Working Committee (NWC) under me. So where is the leadership crisis? There is no leadership crisis anywhere.”
Speaking on why the campaign councils for the governorship elections in Imo Kogi and Bayelsa States are yet to be constituted, Agbo said the constitution of the campaign councils remain the prerogative of the governorship candidates while the party would only make recommendations if necessary. He added that the candidates already know where to pitch their tents in line with the constitution of the party.
“The constitution of the campaign council is exclusively the prerogative of the candidates. The party only makes input especially if it is not a presidential election. If it’s a presidential election it is exclusively the responsibility of the leadership of the party although the candidate is at liberty to make nominations. But in a case of state because the national leadership of the party is not from Imo, Kogi or Bayelsa States, we cannot not be the one constituting the campaign committee for them.
“What we expect the candidates to do which we have asked them to do is to come out with the list of members of their campaign councils for us to inaugurate and once they are ready they will let us know and we will inaugurate the committees.
“The candidates know where to pitch their tents. They know the side that is legally permitted to operate in line with the constitution of the party. You are speaking to me as a journalist here. You are looking at it that there are two factions. But I can tell you that there are no factions. The constitution is the constitution, the law is the law. And what has happened so far is in line with the provision of the constitution of the party.
“The candidates know and they are members of the party. They know what to do. The Agbo-led NWC which is the one I lead is the one they the (candidates) are really with, I can tell you that. The one you are talking about is the Kwakwansiya Movement. Remember that the judges have referred to them as terrorists. They are not part of our party.”
