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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Four aggrieved National Assembly candidates of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Osun State, have said their decision to back the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, was an indication of NNPP’s collapsed structure in the state.
The aggrieved aspirants were reacting to a statement credited to the state caretaker chairman of the party, Abdusalam Abiola.
Abiola had earlier alleged that the four candidates that declared support for Tinubu were like liabilities that would not be missed by the NNPP.
Recall that the four NNPP candidates, Clement Bamigbola (Osun Central Senatorial District); Bolaji Akinyode (Osun West Senatorial District); Olalekan Fabayo (Boluwaduro/Ifedayo/Ila Federal Constituency); and Oluwaseyi Ajayi (Ijesa South Federal Constituency), had dumped NNPP presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso for Tinubu, citing lack of transparency in the running of their party at the national level.
In a statement issued by the leader of the group, Bamigbola, on Monday, the aggrieved candidates said: “Our decision to support Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the 2023 general elections serves as evidence of the Osun NNPP’s imminent collapse.
“It is unfortunate to see the so-called acting chairman referring to the party candidates as irrelevant members. It shows the man in question knows nothing about politics. As at today, NNPP is dead in Osun State.”