The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for president, Sen. Bola Tinubu, has not received the support of the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP) in Osun, according to reports.
Alhaji Abdussalam Abdullateef, the interim party leader in the state, refuted the report at a news conference on Saturday in Osogbo and advised Nigerians to ignore it.
Four party members, according to Abdullateef, were "on their own" after allegedly endorsing the APC presidential candidate.
Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso is the only candidate for president that the NNPP is aware of, and he "has all it takes to give our dear country a new lease of life come May 29, 2023 and beyond," in his words.
“We in the Osun NNPP want to reaffirm our support for His Excellency, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the Presidential Candidate of NNPP.
“He is the most qualified of all the presidential candidates in Nigeria, in terms of education, work experience, political maturity and closeness to the grassroots,” he said.
Abdullateef stated that some past leaders of NNPP in the state were in the habit of using the party to trade for personal interest, which he said led to the change of leadership of the party.
“It may interest the world to know that the leadership of NNPP at the National level has decided to put a stop to this betrayal habit, resulting in the change of the State leadership in Osun State.
“The after effect of the change was the show of shame by four candidates of the party, who purportedly endorsed another presidential candidate as witnessed.
“If candidates of a political party endorse the presidential candidate of another party while still holding on to the mandates of NNPP, their action did not come to us as a surprise.
“Once again, we outright dissociate Osun NNPP from people of unstable credentials and anti-party characters.
“As for the genuine members of the party in the state, we further affirm that all candidates of NNPP in Osun State are working towards success at the 2023 polls”, he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that four candidates of NNPP in the state in the 2023 elections had on Wednesday declared support for the presidential candidate of APC.