Terrorism: NNPP reacts to US’ move to blacklist Kwankwaso

The leadership of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) has reacted to the United States Government’s move to blacklist Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State.

The party reacting to the US Congress’s proposal to impose a visa ban on Kwankwao, its former presidential candidate, called for an investigation into the process and the allegations.

Recall that US Congressman, Riley Moore and some other lawmakers sponsored a bill seeking to sanction Kwankwaso, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) and the Fulani herders over allegations of gruesome killings and severe religious freedom violations.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of NNPP, Ladipo Johnson demanded that Kwankwaso be cleared.

According to Johnson, the claim that Kwankwaso is involved in any form of religious freedom violation can be described as a contrived action against an innocent man.

Stating that the former governor’s dossier is in the public domain for anyone who cares to see, Johnson said Kwankwaso has no relationship with religious fundamentalism in Nigeria.

He further linked the US Congressmen’s attempt to sanction Kwankwaso to the former governor’s reaction towards the recent designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by President Donald Trump.

Kwankwaso, shortly after Trump’s proclamation of Nigeria as a CPC, had taken to X to caution the US against oversimplified characterisations of Nigeria’s internal challenges.

The former governor in his post maintained that Nigeria is a sovereign nation whose people face different threats from outlaws across the country.

His post on X, attracted a reply from Moore who wrote, “Governor do you care to comment on your own complicity in the death of Christians? You instituted sharia law. You signed the law that makes so-called blasphemy punishable by death.”

Further citing some of the achievements of Kwankwaso, Johnson said, “We recall that as governor of Kano State, Senator Kwankwaso ensured that the Boko Haram sect was wiped out of the state and his close relationships with Christian leaders in Kano and across the country attest to his credibility as a national leader and statesman.

“Even when he was pressured to introduce Sharia, he still lost his election because the predominantly Muslim voters punished him for supporting a Christian Presidential Candidate, in the person of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Furthermore, in 2023 he ran his presidential campaign with a Christian Bishop, Bishop Isaac Idahosa as his running mate,” he added.

The NNPP further called on the US Congress, Moore to retrace its steps by conducting a thorough investigation into the allegations levelled against its leader.