Levi Obijiofor
No matter how Ibrahim Babangida tries to dress up his last minute retreat or forced exit from the People's Democratic Party (PDP) presidential nomination challenge, the fact is that the man was outwitted in his own game and in his own backyard. To expose the inconsistencies that have dogged Babangida's attempt to glorify his exit this week from the PDP presidential primaries, we must revisit his pronouncements in the months leading up to this week. In an interview he granted to a Thisday reporter in the third weekend of August this year, Babangida insisted that he would not be squeezed out of the 2007 presidential election contest. In fact, Babangida told the reporter that he would rather contest and lose the election than withdraw from the race. When the reporter asked whether there were issues that might force Babangida to "chicken out" of the presidential contest, Babangida snapped in archetypal style: "Chicken out? No, it is not in my character to chicken out. If nothing else, I like to be challenged."
