The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has called on the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to urgently advise the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, to comply with a court judgment affirming the leadership of the party under its founder, Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam.
Addressing journalists at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, the NNPP Secretary General, Comrade Oginni Olaposi Sunday, expressed concern that INEC under former Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, failed to update the commission’s records with the names of the party’s duly elected national and state executives, despite a valid judgment from the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The legal dispute, filed on December 16, 2024, by a faction led by Dr. Ahmed Ajuji, loyal to former presidential candidate Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, sought to nullify the NNPP congresses and convention organized by the Aniebonam-led leadership. After months of legal proceedings, Justice M.A. Hassan of the FCT High Court dismissed the suit, affirming the legitimacy of the Aniebonam-led executives.
Comrade Oginni described INEC’s continued disregard of the court’s ruling as “disgusting and appalling,” stressing that such behavior undermines Nigeria’s democracy and the rule of law.
He confirmed that on October 15, 2025, the NNPP formally petitioned the Office of the Attorney General, urging immediate intervention over INEC’s noncompliance with the FCT judgment (Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/5518/2024). Copies of the petition, he said, were officially received by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
“We have confidence in Chief Lateef Fagbemi’s integrity and his commitment to the rule of law,” Oginni said. “We also believe that Prof. Amupitan, as the new INEC Chairman, will fulfill his promise to reform the commission and correct the wrongs of the past administration.”
He concluded by emphasizing that adherence to the rule of law remains the foundation of Nigeria’s democracy, warning that “we must not continue this way any longer.”