NNPP Solicitors Ask INEC to Stop Engaging ‘Impostors’, Insist on Court-Recognised Leadership

Solicitors to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have formally called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately cease all electoral communications and dealings with individuals and groups they described as “impostors,” insisting that only the party’s court-recognised leadership should be accorded official recognition.
In a letter dated June 19 and addressed to the INEC Chairman, with attention to the Director of Litigation, the party’s legal representatives, Rex Firma LP, urged the commission to restrict access to all election-related privileges—including nomination portal credentials, authentication keys and candidate-upload authorisations—to the leadership recognised by subsisting court judgments.
The solicitors maintained that the authentic leadership of the NNPP remains the faction supervised by the party’s Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam. They specifically urged INEC to discontinue all correspondence and official engagement with Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Dr. Ajuji Ahmed, the Kwankwasiyya Movement and any other individuals or groups not recognised by existing court rulings.
According to the lawyers, INEC is constitutionally bound under Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to comply with valid court judgments, noting that the commission did not appeal the decisions directing it to recognise the Aniebonam-led leadership.
The legal team referenced several court decisions, including judgments of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory and the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, which they said affirmed the authority of the NNPP Board of Trustees and the National Working Committee elected at the party’s National Convention held in Apapa, Lagos, in February 2025.
They further warned INEC against granting nomination portal access or electoral privileges to any rival faction, arguing that such action would amount to recognising individuals whose claims have already been nullified by competent courts.
The solicitors also alleged that certain individuals associated with Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Bala Mohammed, Dipo Olayoku and the Kwankwasiyya Movement are seeking access to the commission’s nomination portal despite publicly aligning themselves with other political platforms. They argued that having dissociated themselves from the NNPP, such persons cannot legitimately claim authority to act on behalf of the party.
The NNPP’s legal representatives therefore urged INEC to notify all relevant departments and electoral officials of the binding court judgments and ensure that all future communications and electoral processes involving the party are conducted exclusively through its judicially recognised leadership.