The Kaduna State Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Ben Kure, on Thursday, quit the party as result of an alleged overbearing influence of the party’s governorship candidate in the state, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi.
Kure said he was quiting the party because “two captains cannot stay in a ship.”
According to him, he tendered his resignation to the national secretariat of the party since December 6, 2022, alleging that Hunkuyi, among other unconstitutional interferences, did not allow him to operate freely for the betterment of the party in the state.
The former chairman have had a running battle with the governorship candidate and other party officials in the state lately.
But while addressing a press conference in Kaduna on Thursday, Kure described as “regrettable” his experience with the state chapter of party, noting, “I do not ever hope to have anything to do with majority of the state Exco members.”
He said, “I, therefore, wish to inform you and all my supporters and associates that I have resigned as the Kaduna State chairman of NNPP and I am no longer a member of the party. I will take a rest, reflect on my political future and inform the public appropriately.
“I wish to inform you that I had forwarded my letter of resignation to the National Secretariat on December 5, 2022 but was persuaded to stay in order to settle all issues amicably.
“We were invited and held a meeting, and last week the national secretariat ordered us to meet and plan for the state rally and solidarity walk under my leadership, but Hunkuyi and his gang refused to comply with the National secretariat directive.
“They have continued to insult my person in the social media, but I refused, based on maturity, to engage them in mudslinging. However, it has gotten to a point where I can no longer tolerate this sort of thing. Let me make it clear that I don’t believe in the candidacy of Hunkuyi for so many reasons.
“He is just there to block chances not really to contest. I am a serious politician and will not align myself with unserious people. When I see a serious candidate I know. There’s no basic political activity by the candidate anywhere in the state.”
The former chairman added, “I was democratically elected as Chairman of the state chapter of the party. Since then, we have made efforts to steer the affairs of the party to the best of our ability, to reposition it as a major player in the political affairs of the state.
“Under our watch, the party had nominated candidates to contest for various positions in the forthcoming 2023 General Elections, including the Gubernatorial candidate, Suleiman Hunkuyi, who emerged based on the goodwill of the party’s Presidential Candidate, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
“It may, however, interest you to note that since the nomination of Hunkuyi, the party has remained divided, stalling efforts to engineer any massive mobilization to woo new members and retain the initial goodwill of the people.
“This is so largely due to the overbearing nature of which Hunkuyi has been trying to hijack the functions of the office of the state chairman.
“His undemocratic mentality and disregard of respected elders and prominent members of the party in the state has created division in the party, forcing prominent members and elders to either abandon the NNPP or adopt nonchalant attitude, which is causing the party dearly of its support.”
When contacted over the alleged overbearing influencing and hijacking of the party leveled against him by the immediate past chairman, Hunkuyi simply responded by saying “I have no comment.”
