General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (Rtd)Former Nigeria’s Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) has denied speaking against the right of President Muhammadu Buhari to re-contest for second term as President of Nigeria in the 2019 elections, even as he condemned the Coalition of Nigeria (CN) which former President Olusegun Obasanjo formed recently.
In a statement today, Sunday, signed by himself, Babangida said the news making the rounds, credited to him to the effect that President Buhari should not contest in 2019 election was not his own opinion.
In the counter-statement, titled: MY COUNSEL TO THE NATION, to denounce the earlier one in circulation, the former military President said: “let me categorically state that as a former President and Statesman, I have unfettered access and channel of communication with the highest authorities in the country without necessary going public with a sensational statement. “Therefore, the views expressed in the alleged statement are not mine but that of the writer.”
This was even as he admitted that the re-alignment of governance in the country as nation approaches the 2019 election year is a welcome development but that the agitations for such re-alignment must be “genuinely channeled through appropriate channels of law and order and the observance of the supremacy of the Constitution. Therefore, any attempt outside this circle of democratic tenets is deceptive and divisive idea capable of plunging our political journey into disarray.”
The former military President regretted that recent happenings and utterances by political gladiators are alarming and not in the interest of common man that is already overstretched and apparently living from hand to mouth due to precarious economic conditions.
Babangida expressed worry over the Political events and civil unrest in many parts of the country which have raised many questions on the governance and unity of Nigeria.
He said that while 2018 has been inundated with political clamours and hot debates over the corporate existence of this country, many of contributions, including constructive criticisms and engagements, have shown greater concerns for the corporate existence of Nigeria beyond 2019 general elections.
The former leader who believed that all issues in a democratic atmosphere should be sincerely discussed and resolved in the spirit of give-and-take, said that since after his military years that metamorphosed to being the only Military President in the history of Nigeria and my civilian life, he had always have one clear objective that freedom can only be achieved through democracy.
He said that but “some people find this freedom as an avenue for eroding democracy by antics of hate speeches under the guise of religion, tribal or self-imposed mentorship. This trend of pitching political class and the people against one another is unhealthy and must be discouraged by all and sundry.
Babangida stressed the need for the nation’s political parties and their structures to be rebuilt with parameter pillars that will make them stronger with unique ideologies.
“Our present political parties need surgical operations that will align them into a reasonable number. I have been an advocate of a two-party system but in our present reality in Nigeria, our political parties can fuse into a strong political association or party that can form a formidable opposition to a ruling party.
“As students of history, we are aware that many advanced democracies have two distinct ideological political parties, with a handful of smaller political groupings that serve as buffer whenever any of the known political parties derailed or became unpopular. I still believe in a two-party system as the best option for Nigeria.
“It is high time that we engage in constructive dialogue on national issues in order to have a political solution to our myriad of problems. It is sad that Nigeria had its fair share of conflicts, and we cannot continue to fall back to those dark years of bloodshed.
“As a people, now is the time to come together to address all Communal conflicts and criminality under any guise so as to unite the country in line with the vision of our founding fathers so that we can forge ahead in the task of building a more prosperous nation. [myad]
