Politics

How Thugs Attack Bauchi Collation Centre, Injured Scores, Damaged Vehicles

Published

3 years ago

March 4, 2023

Many people were allegedly injured and more than 10 vehicles suffered various levels of damage when suspected thugs of the All Progressives Congress attacked supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party at the House of Representatives collation centre for Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Constituency in Bununu town in Bauchi State.

A former Senior Special Assistant on Media to Yakubu Dogara, the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Iliya Habila, in an interview with journalists, said he narrowly escaped being lynched by the thugs who were armed to the teeth.

Habila, a former Chairman, Bogoro Local Government Area and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, who also spoke to journalists in the state said that the constituency election was marred by irregularities and violence.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had announced the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Ja’afar Leko, as the winner of the election ahead of that of the PDP, Kefas Magaji. Leko is being backed by Dogara who is representing the area for the fourth time.

But Habila, a journalist turned politician who is an ally of the PDP candidate, said they were robbed of the election that should have been theirs.

“As a supporter of the PDP and one of the key supporters of Kefas Magaji, we were there to witness the collation of results, suddenly, we saw thugs in trucks being brought to Bununu. We were surprised how the collation centre was transferred from Zwall to Bununu. Then later in the evening, we knew that obviously the reason behind it (transfer of the collation centre) was to cause confusion and then allow them to perpetrate the evil they had.

“For hours, they held the electoral officials to ransom, for hours, they held security agencies to ransom and within a corner, a primary school, which they condone off and they were perpetrating that kind of evil. In fact, it took the intervention of military personnel to go and bring out the concocted results and later on, they started unleashing terror on everybody that was perceived not to be with them. I also escaped by the whiskers.

“When most of our supporters had been driven away, they knew that it was a fertile ground for them to announce the concocted results they had. In fact, it was around 1am that they announced the results on Monday in a very nocturnal way and this is not acceptable. We were robbed of this victory, he was supposed to have been announced the winner, but it was a broad daylight robbery.”

He also added that many people were injured and had to run for dear lives. Also, more than 10 vehicles were destroyed. According to him, thugs were imported from communities to cause mayhem and distort the election.

Also speaking, the PDP candidate, a former Special Adviser on Legal Matters to the Bauchi State Governor, rejected the result of the election vowing that he would recover his mandate in the court.

The one-time Caretaker Committee Chairman of Tafawa Balewa LGA, said the voting was peaceful in all the polling units with the exception of a few areas that experienced challenges until the collation of results.

He narrated that “at the time of collation, 30 of the wards brought in their results in good time because immediately after the election, counting started and late in the evening (on Saturday), results started coming in. Surprisingly, in Bununu ward which is the host of the three LGAs, results were delayed.

“The next morning, which was Sunday, results were turned in from the remaining electoral wards of the LGAs but Bununu ward was not turned in until about 6 to 7 pm on Sunday which was very unusual.

“The venue of the collation centre was so tight as there were thugs around and the entrance was mounted with a heavy barricade which made it impossible for anybody to know what was happening. From reports, they collated the results about five times; surprisingly, when the Collation Officer took the results of the three LGAs to the collation centre in Bununu, the results were returned on grounds that the computations were not properly done and that there were so many errors.

“For the first time, instead of allowing the Presiding Officers who are the masters of election results to compute the results, the Electoral Officer for Tafawa Balewa took over the whole exercise and at the end of the day, they came up with a result that was not in consonance with the votes that was cast in that ward.”

Magaji stated that before the Bununu result was released, they made sure that “thugs were recruited who were fully armed with AK-47, cutlasses and machetes. It was at that time, they brought out the result from Bununu and it was late in the night when they knew that bringing in the result at the time, they were supposed to bring it in, the APC will definitely lose that election. So what they did was to ensure that the election result was delayed and that is the area that we are not so comfortable with.”

According to him, despite the delays and the “manipulations that they did in the election result,” they discovered that there were cases of over-voting alleging that instead of cancelling the results because of the over-voting, they refused.

“From the entire results they announced, the APC candidate got about 1,800 votes over me, but if they had counted the votes genuinely, certainly by all standards, I would have won the election. We are taking up this matter before the election tribunal to ensure that this case is pursued through the legitimate means in order to reclaim my mandate” he said.

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Related Topics:##NigeriaElections2023 Bauchi

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Politics

N’Assembly committee Approves New State For S’East

Published

1 day ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review has approved the creation of an additional state in the South-East geo-political zone.

According to a statement by the media unit of the committee, the resolution was reached on Saturday at a two-day retreat in Lagos, where it reviewed 55 proposals for state creation across the country.

The session, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and co-chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, resolved that, in the spirit of fairness and equity, the Federal Government should create another state for the region.

Kalu, who joined other lawmakers to champion additional state creation for the region, argued that a new state would give the people a sense of belonging.

When created, the South-East will be at par with the South-South, South-West, North-Central, and North-East zones, each having six states.

The South-East is the only geo-political zone with five states comprising Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.

The North-West comprises seven states: Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Jigawa.

According to the statement, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) moved a motion for the creation of the new state, which was seconded by Ibrahim Isiaka (Ifo/Ewekoro, Ogun State) at the retreat.

“The motion received the unanimous support of committee members and was adopted,” the statement read in part

Similarly, the committee also established a sub-committee to consider the creation of additional states and local government areas across all six geo-political zones, noting that a total of 278 proposals were submitted for review.

Speaking at the event, Jibrin urged members to rally support among their colleagues at the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to ensure the resolutions sail through during voting.

“We need to strengthen what we have started so that all parts of the country will key into this process.

“By the time we get to the actual voting, we should already have the buy-in of all stakeholders—from both chambers and the state Houses of Assembly,” the Deputy Senate President was quoted as saying.

Politics

PDP Unveils 13-member Screening Panel For National Convention

Published

2 days ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

According to a statement issued on October 25, 2025, by the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC) and signed by its Chairman, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who is also the Governor of Adamawa State, the screening exercise will take place on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.

The committee will be chaired by Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), a former Ondo State governorship candidate and respected legal luminary.

He will be assisted by Hon. Mohammed L.S. Diri (SAN) as Deputy Chairman, while Mr. Asue Ighodalo, Esq., will serve as Secretary. Jacob Otorkpa was named Deputy Secretary.

Other members of the committee include: Emmanuel Enoidem (SAN), Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Chief Mrs. Aduke Maina, Iyom Josephine Anenih, Achike Udenwa, Haj. Maryam Inna Ciroma, HM. Felix Hassan Hyat, HM. Zainab Maina, and Chinedu Nwachukwu, who will also serve as Administrative Secretary.

The statement noted that the selection reflected the PDP’s commitment to transparency, integrity, and internal democracy in the build-up to its national convention.

“The NCOC notes and expects that the exemplary conduct and strict adherence to rules and regulations during this very crucial assignment will justify the confidence reposed by the Party in members of the Committee,” the statement read.

Fintiri assured party members that the screening process will be conducted with the highest standards of fairness and impartiality, underscoring the PDP’s resolve to strengthen its democratic institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“This exercise is crucial in ensuring that only credible, competent, and loyal members emerge to steer the affairs of our great party,” Fintiri stated.

Politics

Why I Refused To Endorse El-Rufai As My Successor — Obasanjo

Published

2 days ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed how he turned down a suggestion to endorse former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor.

Speaking on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the second edition of the annual Ajibosin Platform symposium themed “Importance of Leadership in Governance”, Obasanjo disclosed that former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, had recommended El-Rufai for the presidency, but he rejected the idea.

Chidoka, who delivered the keynote address at the event, had earlier narrated how El-Rufai introduced him to Obasanjo at the age of 34, an encounter that led to his appointment as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

Addressing the audience, Obasanjo took a playful jab at Chidoka for leaving out the El-Rufai story.

“Let him tell you. He didn’t mention that. He was pushing when I was leaving government that his friend, El-Rufai, should be brought in as my successor,” Obasanjo said.

Turning to Chidoka, who was seated among the panelists, he asked, “No be so (Is that not true)?” The former minister nodded in agreement.

Obasanjo explained that he dismissed the suggestion because he believed El-Rufai still needed time to grow politically.

“I did not yield to the pressure. Later, he said, ‘I suggested this person, why didn’t you agree?’ I said El-Rufai needs to mature. You remember?

“When I left government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature.’”

The former president, however, commended Chidoka, El-Rufai, and other former aides for their “special attributes,” which he said contributed to the success of his administration.

Speaking further on leadership, Obasanjo emphasised character, exposure, experience, and training as essential qualities of effective governance.

Obasanjo said, “It’s only in politics that I found out there is no training for leadership. Even among armed robbers, I was told there is apprenticeship.

“But it’s only in politics that there is no training in leadership. That’s not good enough.”

El-Rufai served under Obasanjo’s administration as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) before becoming the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between 2003 and 2007. When Obasanjo was leaving office in 2007, he instead backed the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his preferred successor.

In his address, Chidoka blamed Nigeria’s development setbacks on excuses and what he described as the politics of alibi.

“Leadership finds its true measure not in speeches or charisma but in the systems it leaves behind.

“Moral conviction must translate into the everyday machinery of governance—rules, routines, and institutions that make competence predictable and corruption difficult.

“Nigeria’s problem has never been a shortage of ideas; it is the absence of systems strong enough to outlive their authors,” he said.

He urged leaders to prioritise accountability and measurable results.

“We must therefore make leadership accountable not to rhetoric but to results: measure by building national dashboards and accountability systems that track every promise, every budget, every outcome. Monitor by strengthening the institutions that evaluate government performance and expose complacency,” he said.