In his now regular Sunday sermon at the Lagos airport, Evil Genius, General Ibrahim Babangida, has made a somewhat cautious admission the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election was his mistake, even as he stubbornly failed to apologize. Apparently realizing that the June 12 election was a clog in the wheel of his presidential rerun, Alhaji Babangida decided to talk about it, as well as the $12.4 billion theft by his regime, which he grossly undervalued by more than 90%.
Babangida now claims, the amount realized and reported stolen is $1.4 billion, not $12.4billion, and hopes Nigerians would buy his spin.
Besides, he said contrary to reports, Nigeria realised $1.4billion and not $12.4billion during the Gulf War which sent oil prices sky bound.Speaking with reporters in Lagos, Babangida said he had apologised to Nigerians for annulling the election, which was won by Chief M.K.O. Abiola, a man IBB betrayed and who died as a result of the annulment.
"Every leader makes a mistake; I am not an exception," he said.
Nigerians, he pleaded, should give him credit for conducting the election. He said: "You must give me credit for conducting the best election ever conducted by anybody in this country. That was on June 12. That election was annulled. So, here I am. I conducted the best election. I annulled the best election. A leader should be respected for one thing. He should take responsibility for anything good or bad. It is not for me to say that somebody did this or that, otherwise, I will not be a leader".
On why he refused to tender a public apology for the annulment, Babangida said: "I want a definition of public apology. I said I accept full responsibility. Then, you can give me (a definition of public apology), if you want. I accepted this as a leader. I hope you will analyse it, judge it. Of course, every leader makes a mistake. I am not an exception. Everything came to my table."
Babangida justified his foray into politics, 17 years after he "stepped aside", calling on Nigerians to join him in salvaging the country. As a former Head of State, he said, he has the experience to rule the country and tackle the problems slowing down its development.
He said he had briefed former President Olusegun Obasanjo on his ambition, although he was silent on details of their discussion.
On his ambition, he said: "Seventeen years ago, when I left Aso Rock, I left so many things. For example, I left the value of the naira. I left the fuel pump price. We started a lot of reforms. I think I need to go back and get them back for the benefit of ordinary Nigerians." Babangida was the first ruler to devalue the value of the Naira. Although the Naira has since his administration refused to regain its old value, Babangida wanted to claim all the same that times were better under his corrupt regime.
Babangida described himself as one of the patriots who sacrificed their lives to keep Nigeria together, saying he was concerned by its lack of progress.
He denied embezzling the Gulf War oil windfall, explaining that the $12.4 billion that accrued to the national treasury under his administration in eight years was spent judiciously. The projects funded with the money are verifiable, he said.
Babangida distinguished between oil windfall and monies that accrued to the nation’s purse, saying the former fell into the category of revenue that was not expected. He pointed out that what accrued to the nation during the war was $1.4 billion.
