lost trust because we ran this party transparently for 22 years before they came. It is their arrival that brought the crisis. If Nigerians have anyone to question, they should be questioning that group for bringing turmoil into a party that operated seamlessly for over two decades,” he said.
Major also said the party remains focused on fielding candidates for upcoming elections.
“The primary assignment of every political party is to field candidates for elections, and we are quite aware of that. We have fielded candidates like Kalu Idika Kalu in 2007 and Pastor Chris Okotie in 2003. Even while the crisis lasted, we kept our structures intact. We have a mandatory 21-day window to announce our national convention, and we intend to do something about that soon,” he revealed.
On the possibility of reconciliation, Major said the party has always left the door open since June 2023, but the other faction failed to engage and instead escalated tensions.
“Democracy is about the power of disagreeing to agree. We left the window for reconciliation open since June 2023, but the other side never explored it; instead, they added fuel to the fire. We have never shut that window. Dr. Boniface Aniebonam is a man with a large heart who is not averse to settlement, but it would be a different ballgame now because we have learned from what we’ve been subjected to over the past three years,” he said.
On how the NNPP plans to tackle insecurity in Nigeria, Major said the party’s approach focuses on the people themselves, noting that perpetrators live within the communities they target.
According to him, “Security is about the people. The easiest way to solve the problem of insecurity is to take the challenge to the people because the perpetrators are living in the communities they are attacking. Our approach for the last 15 years has been to get the ordinary people directly involved. The NNPP is an ordinary-person-friendly party, not an elitist one.”
Responding to concerns about a potential APC-led sole candidacy for the 2027 elections, Major dismissed the notion as a distraction, insisting that NNPP will find its own candidates.
“If there is any plot to pave any political party, especially ours, into any APC agenda, then we should be asking those who have been around after having been sacked, and have been around causing problems here and there. But that is not the issue now. We, as a party, will continue to insist that our primary role is to field candidates. Yes, our time has been wasted with talk about this, but we are going to field candidates,” he stressed.
