In its bid to realise the presidential ambition of the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in 2023, a group, Bola Ahmed Tinubu Solidarity Vanguard (BATS) has been inaugurated in Ilorin, the Kwara State.
According to the chairman of the group who double as the chairman of United Progressives Party in the state, Dave Abu Ifabiyi in a chat Pilot Politics in his office weekend, BATS comprised of credible men and women from different political parties who came together for the actualisation of the project in 2023.
He said because of the calibre of Tinubu who himself have friends all over the Nigeria and across the world, people decided to come together from different parties to think of him becoming the president in 2023. He added all over Nigeria, the group is already working and exploring ways to ensure that Tinubu becomes the president.
“We had our first inaugural meeting penultimate Friday which comprised of credible men and women in attendance and we intend to make it monthly. We are expecting people from different local governments to be in attendance on the 31st of this month.
“As whether there will be a clash of interest, when we get to that bridge, we will cross it because BATS is not all about APC, UPP, PDP or SDP. It’s not a political party affair but about the personality of Jagaban and that is only what we are working for. But along the line, if UPP decides to field a different candidate for president, then we know how to cross it. We have BATS members all over Nigeria and specifically I can tell you about Nasarawa, Kogi, Plateau and FCT. We are facilitators with the people manning that state.
On whether their activity is not coming too early, Ifabiyi noted that “Politicians will always tell you that, but underground the work is on and moving. And mind you, there is the saying that he who fails to plan is planning to fail. It is always good to plan early especially when it has to do with politics. We don’t want him to fail and that is why we are planning early.
He said BATS started by gathering friends and associates of Tinubu which has been in existence for a long time but this time around, the BATS vanguard is adding another responsibility which is that of looking at the possibility of Tinubu becoming the president of the country in 2013. All over Nigeria, America and Europe, the group is in existence with various chapters.
“But what we must understand is that there different groups campaigning or coming together to brainstorm on what Jagaban should become in 2003. It’s not only BATS that is working for him, we have a lot of groups and we have the assurance of our National chairman and excos that they will all later be collapse into BATS. But that is not to say that APC is not being carried along. In BATS we have different political parties who are interested and are members of BATS in the state and cutting across Nigeria”, he added.
