Never Again to Babangida!

Former military ruler General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida was the moving force behind the crisis that recently engulfed the Niger State House of Assembly because he had a grouse against the state governor Dr. Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, Special Assistant to the Governor has declared, adding that the former ruler's political associates are preparing the way for Babangida's son, Mohamed, to try to snatch the governorship from Governor Aliyu in 2011. Alternatively, Aliyu said, they will push the candidature of former Commissioner for Health Alhaji Dattijo Aliyu, who is General Babangida's cousin. Dattijo was recently detained in prison for allegedly circulating inciting documents.

Lanpene said General Babangida is very angry with Governor Aliyu because his cousin was detained for a month. He is also angry, the special assistant said, because when Dr. Aliyu took over as governor in 2007, he stopped paying the salaries of some of the teachers of Mrs Mar Babangida's private Al-Amin International School in Minna, who were paid by the Niger State government when Abdulkadir Kure was the governor. He also said under Kure, the Niger State government sponsored all Babangida-for-president political projects. Aliyu stopped it, he said, "which is why you don't see IBB associations proliferating all over the country these days."

Lanpene alleged that the Niger State Assembly members who were recently mobilised to impeach the Speaker Alhaji Mohamed Alkali were offered N5 million each. He said, "You know it was not the state government that did it. Who else in Niger State has N100 million to spend just to impeach the Speaker?" he said the speaker's impeachment was meant to be a first step towards denying Governor Aliyu the chance to contest again in 2011.

According to him, the crisis erupted because IBB's top lieutenants in Niger State, namely former governor Kure and former PDP National Vice Chairman Alhaji Abubakar Magaji were both indicted by the white paper of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that probed the last regime. They therefore launched a political counterattack to stop Governor Aliyu from securing the PDP nomination for 2011, he said.

The governor's assistant said the two court cases that Governor Aliyu, who is the Talban Minna, has had to grapple with, namely ANPP candidate David Umaru's case at the election tribunal and former PDP aspirant Jibrin Alhassan Gunna's case at the high court, were all instituted by IBB's boys. He said IBB could have stopped them effortlessly. "What role did IBB play to end these cases?" he asked.

Lanpene denied charges that his boss the governor is fighting everybody in Niger State. He said, "Talba is not fighting anybody. He is only trying to be sincere with people. Kure was misled for 8 years by the political elite in Niger State. He was doing their bidding so much so that his regime could not achieve anything in two terms. Talba is therefore saying we should not repeat the same mistake again, we should use our little resources to develop Niger State, and he is concentrating all his energy in the revitalisation and development of Niger State."

When contacted, a close associate of the former military ruler Alhaji Nma Kolo declined comments on the issues raised by the governor's aide. "I won't react to comments from Isa," Alhaji Kolo told our reporter last night. Kolo had however spoken on the same issue last week, saying General Babangida did not even know that the Niger Speaker had been impeached until three days later, when Nma himself went and drew his attention to it. Even though Nma Kolo declined to speak, Daily trust learnt last night that he placed several calls to Governor Aliyu's aides and urged them to disown the allegations against Babangida.

His pressure somewhat paid off because shortly before press time, the governor's Senior Special Assistant on General Matters Alhaji Yahuza Abdullahi called Daily Trust and said Lampene's comments were his personal views and not those of the Niger State government.

"He spoke on behalf of himself and not the government of Niger State," Abdullahi said. He added that IBB and Governor Aliyu "are in the best of relationship at the moment. If at all there was anything, certainly not now." Governor Aliyu also has no problem with his predecessor Engr. Kure at the moment, Yahuza added.

He blamed what he called recent insinuations on the failing relationship between Governor Aliyu and IBB "on those hangers-on who are thought they could only benefit when there is crisis."

It would be recalled that the Niger State Assembly speaker Alhaji Mohamed Alkali was impeached on June 1 and a new speaker, Idris, was elected, but the Niger State Police Command, apparently prompted by the state government, declared him wanted for fraud. Idris resigned a week later, paving the way for the election of yet another speaker, Alhaji, who is pro-Governor Aliyu.

< Prev		Next >