Djibo Bakary came to prominence as the general secretary of the
PPN - which had been founded as the Nigerien branch of the
RDA - in the early 1950s. He conflicted with RDA leader
Félix Houphouët-Boigny as the latter gradually imposed a pro-
French line on the party and distanced himself from the
French Communist Party. Bakary criticized this decision by saying that it should have been preceded by a democratic debate inside the party instead of being unilaterally declared. As Diori and
Boubou Hama gained control over the PPN, Bakary proceeded to found a new party,
Sawaba, the next year. He was then expelled from the PPN. Bakary served as
Mayor of
Niamey from 1956 to 1958. From 20 May 1957 to 14 December 1958, he held the position of Vice President of the Council of Government. From 26 July 1958 to 10 October 1958, he was the President of the Government Council of Niger. In July 1958, tensions between Bakary and his pro-French colleagues again mounted. Bakary virulently opposed
Charles de Gaulle's
constitutional referendum during the congress of the
African Regroupment Party in
Cotonou. As he denounced de Gaulle's "economic blackmail" towards the colonies and demanded immediate independence for Niger, he managed to rally a majority of the congress delegates behind his cause. This led figureheads including
Jacques Foccart,
Pierre Messmer and Houphouët-Boigny to decide that Bakary should be brought down. The colonial administrator Louis Rollet (seen as too conciliatory) was replaced by , who organized a massive campaign in favor of the "yes" vote on the referendum. Moreover, Colombani worked with the far-right general
Raoul Salan to bring death squads into villages seen as Sawaba strongholds and to terrorize the villagers into submission. This led to a victory for the "yes" camp in the
Nigerien referendum. After this electoral victory, the French authorities pushed Bakary fully out of power, replaced him with Diori and organized a
new election for the Territorial Assembly of Niger - again marked by a campaign of repression against opponents - to consolidate Diori's power. == Legacy ==