Nigeria's former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, has said that if he contests election and wins, nobody can annul it. Mr. Babangida, who was responding to questions from journalists shortly after he paid a courtesy call to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, implied that he was able to annul the 1993 election because at that time, he operated as a military ruler. That sword he murdered with, according to IBB, can not be used to kill him. Mr. Babangida had in 1993 annulled the election of the late Moshood Abiola, who was believed to have won the election.
Evil Genius, General Ibrahim Babangida, has come out heavily on the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, over his stance on zoning in the party. In a statement signed by Babangida, the former military dictator said it was not proper for Nwodo to criticise zoning because Nwodo himself “is a direct product of zoning.”
Text of the statement reads: “I am pleased to read the position of the PDP Chairman, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, and the newly selected Party Chairman who was first among equals when he was zoned-in from a group of other persons from the South-East Zone. “He is a direct product of zoning after waiving some encumbrances that would have mitigated his emergence as the new Chairman of our great Party."
Known faces within the biological and political family of the deceased Lamidi Adedibu, acclaimed ‘strongman of Ibadan politics’, dominated the crowd that flagged off the campaign for the presidential ambition of Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), a former military ruler of Nigeria. Held at the KS Motel, Ibadan, Saturday evening, the event was to formally inaugurate the state and local government executive committees for the IBB Presidential Campaign Organisation.
Daughter of M.K.O. Abiola, Mrs. Hafsat Abiola-Costello, has described Nigeria’s former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida, as a case study of policy and administrative inconsistencies. Hafsat recalled that IBB’s eight years of administration between 1985 and 1993 was marred by betrayal of public interest.
Hafsat, whose mother, Kudirat Abiola, was murdered by the military, later founded the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND). Speaking during a training programme organised by KIND to sensitise women in politics ahead of the 2011 elections, she observed that IBB messed up an eight-year opportunity he had to make a difference in people’s lives and to contribute in promoting the quest for democracy in Nigeria.
After years of prevarication by several governments, the chicken might be coming home to roost for Ibrahim Babangida. NEXT gathered in Abuja, the seat of power, last night, that the Federal Government has raised a committee to probe the eight-year military government of Mr. Babangida. The former military president is alleged to have mismanaged over $12.4 billion that accrued from crude oil sales during the Gulf War.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), told our correspondent in a telephone conversation that the committee is chaired by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abdulahi Yola.
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A desperate opportunist, Ibrahim Babangida, suspecting he is being stripped of his influence and possibilities within the ruling party, now plans to carry out his presidential ambition through any political party. Asked, if his loyalty is still to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as he had previously claimed, IBB's simple answer was, he will contest through "whichever party"will take him. Obviously jittery, Babangida said he was not afraid of the possibility of President Goodluck Jonathan using incumbency to kill his dream of returning to power next year.
Major Debo Basorun was the military press secretary to Ibrahim Babangida (retd.). In this interview with NIYI ODEBODE of The Punch, he opens up on his ordeals in the hands of the former dictator and the death of Dele Giwa.
Under what circumstances did you leave the army? There was a threat to my life and that is what this brouhaha is all about. I was privy to some of the terrible things Babangida and Akilu did when we were in the army. There was this determination on their path to silence me. I was surprised when I saw my name in the newspapers two weeks ago. They said I was wanted. That is far from the truth. I resigned from the army. You said you were privy to some information. What information? My problem is 2011. Babangida wants to become president again. I am not saying I am the only person, but I am one of those who know that he is connected to the death of Dele Giwa. That is why they have been trying to kill me.
Presiding Bishop of the Winners' Chapel, Dr. David Oyedepo, has said the ghost of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election will continue to haunt self-styled military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, for life.
The cleric said Nigerians are wiser than Babangida and have not forgotten the pains he inflicted on them through the cancellation of the polls adjudged to have been won by the late business mogul, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.) Abiola.
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