TUNDE OLUSUNLE FROM NEWS DIARY
Bauchi, the capital of the north easterly state which goes by the same name last weekend, hosted critical stakeholders of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP). The state is otherwise famous as host of the Yankari Game Reserve and National Park, a major national touristic asset which harbours some of the world’s rarest fauna. Bauchi is also the primordial home of the armoured corps of the Nigerian Army, a critical fighting arm of the Nigerian military complex.
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Nigeria’s military President from August 27, 1985 to August 27, 1993, popularised the corps. He belonged to that specialised strand of the defence forces, one of nearly two dozen corps and services of the army superstructure, but a very strategic one at that. They roll out those fearsome tanks with pointed metal nostrils, from their armoury, when the gravity of engagement in a conflict, demands such intervention. In street lingo, the armoured corps are called in, when jungle don mature.
The event was a “Retreat for Members of the National Assembly Elected on the platform of the PDP.” This encompasses Senators and Members of the House of Representatives. It turned out to be the first time the PDP congregated after the general elections of February and March this year, commanding the attendance of the upper crust of the party’s leadership superstructure.
The recent elections are believed to have been very largely flawed at various levels, and have spawned a litany of litigations at countrywide elections petitions tribunals. The 2023 polls in instances, have been described as the most opaque, most dubious and most contentious in the 24 year old Fourth Republic. The theatrics which have been thrown up at the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal, (PEPT), for instance, suggest that the feet of the proverbial corpse which was hurriedly interred, are sticking out of its shroud! Reports and filings by local and international observer groups have echoed popular convictions about the largely compromised polls.
Led by former Vice President and banner-bearer of the PDP at the presidential poll, Atiku Abubakar, the topmost stratum of the party on Saturday June 3, 2023, convened in Bauchi. Governor Bala Mohammed who won a hard-fought reelection, was chief host. The national leadership of the party and governors, reelected and freshly minted, honoured the invite to the meeting in good numbers.
Candidates of the Saturday November 11, 2023 off-season gubernatorial election in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi, were also in attendance. Bauchi continued to savour the carnival air of the season, presaged by the colourful inauguration, on Monday May 29, of Governor Mohammed, as PDP heavyweights peopled the city. The event was held in Government House.
Atiku set the tone of the converge. He admonished the lawmakers-elect to remain very optimistic while awaiting the resolution of the disputed election by the electoral arbiter. Said the former Vice President: “You are representatives of the party and your constituents. Resist the temptation to jettison your party just because of a temporary setback. At the end of the day, truth and good shall triumph over falsehood and evil.” Exhorting the parliamentarians further…
