IBB CONGRATULATES BUHARI, JONATHAN, CALLS FOR NATIONAL HEALING

Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, on Tuesday, congratulated the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari and the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan.
He felicitated with Buhari for winning the presidential contest and Jonathan for conceding victory to the winner.
In a statement signed by him, Babangida said Buhari’s victory over the sitting president had opened a new vista in Nigeria’s democratic experience.
He likened Buhari’s perseverance and eventual success to the political journey of late American president, Abraham Lincoln.

BABANGIDA FUMES AT ANTI-MILITARY POLITICAL BROADCAST

Former President Ibrahim Babangida has flayed what he Wednesday described as an attempt to ridicule the military institution and some of its sterling lights in the name of politics.
Taking note of a television documentary aired on Tuesday night on a private television network to project President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the presidential election, Babangida lamented that the president’s backers at the same time poured calumny on some of the country’s former military rulers.
Babangida took strong objections to what he said were the negative imputations put on the integrity and services to the nation by Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, himself; Ibrahim Babangida, late Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and T.Y Danjuma.

IBB: COUNT ME OUT OF INTERIM GOVERNMENT

Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida has said that he should be counted out of any talks or plot to install any Interim Government in Nigeria.
He said in a statement issued by his Media office that it has become necessary to make his stand clear to avoid unwarranted cynicisms usually promoted by naysayers, alarmists and political apologists to score cheap political mileage.
According to the former military president, "To state the obvious, let it be on record that I am not in any way connected with alleged 'plans' to encourage, promote, orchestrate or moot, the idea of an interim government or whatever contraption so-called.
"I did state categorically in 2011 that I was quitting partisan politics and wouldn’t want to be ordered around in any way or form as seeking public office in whatever guise. I took that decision when I attained the age of 70 and I stand by that decision till date."

THERE’LL BE ELECTIONS IN MARCH, IBB ASSURES

FORMER Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has said he is optimistic that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct the re-scehduled general election, saying people should not look at the present insecurity challenges bedevilling the country as a problem that is restricted to a particular zone of the country.
IBB said this when he received the members of Arewa Citizens Action for Change (ACAC) in his Minna Hilltop residence.
He said: “I have every confidence that there will be elections.”

NIGERIA SAFE UNDER JONATHAN, SAYS IBB

Former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd.), on Tuesday at his Minna, Niger State Hilltop residence, said with President Goodluck Jonathan piloting the affairs of the nation, the nation is in safe hands.
The former military president spoke when Jonathan who was in the state capital for his re-election campaign paid him homage.
Babangida thanked Jonathan sincerely for finding time to pay him a visit despite his busy schedule.
He said he shared the same passion with Jonathan, a passion which he said was the genuine zeal to transform Nigeria.
Babangida told Jonathan: "I felt touched when you visited me in Germany after nine hours of surgery and you came again.

BABANGIDA: ALL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES HAVE MY SUPPORT

After his seeming endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan and then shortly afterwards the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), and promising to mobilise retired military generals to support the latter, former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), on Thursday decided to be more generous with his support, saying that he endorses all 14 presidential candidates in the forthcoming election.
Babangida stated this during a talk show on Channels TV, adding that all the candidates had displayed passion for the unity of the country.
Asked by the presenter of the programme, Ms. Kadaria Ahmed, if he had thrown his weight behind Jonathan, Babangida said he alluded to it.
“I did allude to that. I said I found him as someone who has a very strong belief about the unity of this country.

LET’S UNITE AGAINST BOKO HARAM –IBB

…I don’t regret my actions in govt
Former Head of State, Gen Ibrahim Ba¬bangida yesterday, stressed the need for Nigerians to unite in the fight against the Boko Haram sect ravaging some Northern parts of the country.
He cautioned that to win the war against the dreaded sect, the Boko Haram insurgency must be viewed as a Nigerian problem and not that of any part of the country or religious group.
Speaking on “Straight Talk” with Kadira on Channels Tele¬vision, he said that just like they did during the civil war, Nigeri¬ans must unite against the Boko Haram sect.
His words: “People must believe that this is affecting Ni¬geria generally and not any part of the country or religion. The civil war which we remember, the whole country was mobil¬ised against secession. There was a lot of unity among Nige¬rian people.

GENERALS WILL SUPPORT BUHARI —IBB

•Don’t kill during elections, Buhari tasks supporters
THE presidential ambition of All Progressives Congress (APC) standard-bearer, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, received a boost, on Monday, as former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) said they (Generals) will support him.
IBB gave the assurance when he played host to Buhari at his Hilltop Mansion in Minna, Niger State.
The former military leader said he was proud of the persistence and perseverance of General Buhari in seeking to offer himself for service at the highest level in the country’s young democracy.
“You have beaten some of us in proving General Douglas McArthur’s theory that ‘old soliders never die but fade away gradually,’ but you have refused to fade away,” he told Buhari.

WHY WE OVERTHREW BUHARI — BABANGIDA

Former Military President, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida may go down in the history of Nigeria as the most loved yet most hated leader to ever rule Africa’s most populous nation. Such paradox marks him out as an intriguing personality, who remains a reference point in the political circle more than two decades after he ‘stepped aside’ from Aso Rock in controversialcircumstances.
In this rare encounter with a team from Zero Tolerance (ZT), a quarterly magazine published by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, at his Hill Top mansion in Minna, Niger State, the former leader offers rare reminisces on his leadership of the country and attempts a prognosis on the myriad challenges facing Nigeria. He spoke about why he led a coup that toppled the regime of Muhammadu Buhari and why he approved the killing of his bosom friend, Mamman Vatsa.:

The circumstances surrounding your emergence as military president in 1985, some people believe that it was more of self-preservation than national interest. Can you tell us what happened?

First of all, we planned a coup towards the end of 1983 that truncated the democratically elected government and the military government came in January 1984. Then that government also suffered the same fate as the democratic government when the military staged one of the finest coup in this country, because there was no blood, nothing was lost, smooth and everybody was treated with the most civility and our administration came. When we came in August of 1985 there was a plan to kick us out in December 1985, it didn’t work, they went into operation again in 1990. I think the country was going through a phase at that time, it’s a developing country and we always had one reason or the other for doing what we did at that time.

But the talk at that time was that there was a rift between you and Buhari and he wanted to dismiss you from the Army.

No, let me give you a lesson today. A coup or change comes about if there is frustration in the society. Just get that right. There was frustration in the society between 1984 to 1985. The ground was fertile for a coup. It wasn’t fertile, thanks be to God, in December, 1985 when the first attempt on me was made. Neither was it fertile in April 1990 when the second attempt was made and we had the support of all of you sitting down here. You write, you analyze, you talk, and you demonstrated. It was not unusual then to hear, in the case of the democratically elected government in1983, a common phase was ‘the worst military regime is better than this government’. So you were giving us the impetus to stage a coup. We are not dummies. If we didn’t have the support of all of you, we wouldn’t venture into it.

THE FULL INTERVIEW: 

I'M NOT CORRUPT, I NEVER LOOTED NIGERIA'S MONEY – IBB

...Why we toppled Buhari
A former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, has said that he is not corrupt as being insinuated in many quarters.
He asked any Nigerian with facts on corruption against him to release them to the public.
He also said the $12.4billion Gulf Oil War windfall of 1991 was not stolen.
Babangida made the clarifications in an exclusive interview with a team of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s press crew for the agency’s in-house magazine, “Zero tolerance.”
The EFCC released the transcript of the interview to journalists in Abuja on Monday.
He denied looting billions from the treasury, challenged anyone with proof of corruption against him to reveal it.
He said: “Let me tell you something, maybe you have a hand in it. I have been the most investigated President Nigeria has ever had. By now, somebody should have come forward to say here it is.

BOKO HARAM CAN BE CRUSHED, SAYS IBB

• David Mark expresses fear over bombings
Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, has expressed confidence in the ability of the military to defeat Boko Haram, if well armed.
Babangida, in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, monitored in Kaduna yesterday, said the military was well trained to defeat the insurgents and would do so if given all the resources needed to achieve the task Babangida spoke against the backdrop of doubts expressed by many stakeholders over the military’s ability to defeat terror in view of the resurgence in terror attacks, especially in some northern cities that had witnessed lull in the last six months.

INSURGENCY: LAWMAKERS TO MEET WITH JONATHAN, BLAME BABANGIDA FOR WEAKENED MILITARY

• Get briefing from Badeh on emergency rule
Following the rising wave of insurgency in the North-east and the threat to Nigeria’s territorial integrity, members of the National Assembly have set the stage for a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan so as to end the ceaseless attacks that have led to the death of thousands in recent months and turned several more into refugees.
This is just as the legislators have blamed the regime of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, for the flagging performance of the Nigerian Armed Forces in their confrontation with Boko Haram, saying the regime intentionally weakened the military after the failed coup d’etat led by Major Gideon Okar in 1990.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, Senator George Sekibo (PDP, Rivers), spoke to reporters on their intention to meet with the president at the end of a closed-door meeting the legislators had with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Marshal Alex Badeh, yesterday.

BABANGIDA WARNS JONATHAN OVER DEPLOYMENT OF SOLDIERS FOR ELECTIONS

• FG Disagrees
• APC backs Babangida
Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, has warned against continued use of the military in providing security during elections.
Babangida issued the warning in an interview with newsmen in his Hill Top Mansion in Minna, Niger State, to mark his 73rd birthday, which comes up tomorrow.
President Goodluck Jonathan, as the Commander- in-Chief, has developed a template for providing security during elections using soldiers along with other security forces.
He did this in the governorship elections in Anambra, Edo, Ekiti and, last week, in Osun states. 

TAMBUWAL SHELVES PLAN TO DUMP PDP

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, may have shelved his speculated plan to quit the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Daily has learnt.
It was widely rumoured in the last nine months that the Speaker was perfecting plans to join the APC as he was said to be eyeing the party’s presidential ticket.
The Speaker has held series of meetings with chieftains of the opposition party in both Lagos and Abuja, giving rise to speculations that he may have finally resolved to join them.
Besides, some of the 37 members of the House of Representatives who defected from the PDP to the APC late last year had confided in newsmen after their defection, that it was only a matter of time before Tambuwal joins them in their new platform.
Again, Tambuwal’s body language was very suggestive of such moves.

UNITE AGAINST SECT, IBB TELLS MUSLIMS

Piqued by the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram sect in the country, a former military head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd) has called on Nigerian Muslims to rise up against the continued blackmail of the religion of Islam in the land.
“Islam enjoins you to live peacefully with fellow human beings. Allah says there is no compulsion in religion, so this alone is okay for us. Therefore, anybody who will come and smear our name, all Muslims should kick against that. Muslims should also do everything possible to stop this continued blackmail against the religion of Islam. We must prepare to fight it and ensure that we become successful,” he said.

BABANGIDA DENIES WRITING JONATHAN

Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, has denied media report that he, like former President General Olusegun Obasanjo, has written a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan on the state of the nation.
Babangida, in a statement yesterday by Mr. Kassim Afegbua, denied the report, which he described as “outright blackmail journalism and a sad commentary on the journalism practice.”
In the statement given to THISDAY in Minna, Niger State, Babangida denied issuing any statement titled: “Your aides are misleading you; IBB warns Jonathan,” published in an online publication.
“To state the least, this is outright blackmail journalism and a sad commentary on journalism practice; a profession that I hold dear to my heart.

IBB TO FG: THREATS WON’T END ASUU STRIKE

The Federal Government’s threat to sack striking university lecturers unless they resume work by Wednesday will not solve the crisis, former Military President Ibrahim Babangida told Daily Trust yesterday.
Education Minister Nyesom Wike last week issued a seven-day ultimatum to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end their four-month strike or lose their jobs.
ASUU leaders angrily responded, saying they would not be intimated into resuming work.
Babangida, who spoke exclusively to Daily Trust in Minna, said issuing threats was not an effective way of solving issues.
“Basically, I’ll say both Federal Government and ASUU should apply knowledge and tactfulness in resolving this issue. Issues are never settled by threat and you need to settle quarrel in a tactful way,” he said.
“For those of us who believein Islam, Allah (SWA) instructed his Prophet (PBUH) that if he wants to bring people into his religion, he should use his knowledge and tactics in talking to people.

BABANGIDA MAY PULL OUT OF TALKS OVER ASARI-DOKUBO’S THREATS

The ongoing peace talks on the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may suffer a setback following plans by ex-President Ibrahim Babangida to pull out of the mediation over threats from a former Niger Delta warlord, Mujaheedin Asari-Dokubo.
Gen. Babangida was alleged to have described Asari-Dokubo’s threats as insulting to eminent leaders on the seven-man panel headed by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Asari-Dokubo at the weekend threatened violence should President Jonathan be stopped from contesting in 2015.
There was, however, pressure on Gen. Babangida last night to have a rethink.
Also, barring last-minute change of mind, some members of the Kawu Baraje faction of the PDP may be expelled from the party by the Bamanga Tukur faction.

BABANGIDA MARKS LOW KEY BIRTHDAY WITH FAMILY, ASSOCIATES

Former president Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) and his family yesterday marked his 72nd birthday with special prayers. The president of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, was among the prominent Nigerians in attendance.
The prayers took place at his Minna, Niger State, residence ; the entire event was devoid of any elaborate celebration.
Dangote was the first prominent personality to deliver a congratulatory letter to Babangida at the prayers session conducted by Khadi Alikali Usman Wada Erena.
The khadi prayed Allah to grant the former leader long life and good health so he could continue his good work of counselling and guiding new-generation leaders.
Later in the day, Babangida received the deputy governor of Niger State, Hon. Ahmed Ibeto, who led members of the State Executive Council to pay him a special birthday visit.

IBB DENIES SHUNNING BREAKFAST MEETING WITH JONATHAN

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, has denied ever getting any invitation to have breakfast with President Goodluck Jonathan, let alone rejecting it.

Reacting to a newspaper publication to the effect that he rejected an invitation to have breakfast with Jonathan, Babangida, in a statement from his office yesterday, stated that he had respect for the office of the president  and therefore, could not have rejected any invitation to have breakfast with the president.

He stated that he had visited Jonathan twice, since he assumed office and had a good relationship with him and therefore, had no cause to have rejected an invitation to have breakfast with him.