After years of dilly-dallying, General Ibrahim Babangida has finally shed the gab of indecision, as he picked up nomination form for the presidential contest in the PDP in Abuja. The line has therefore been drawn between the supporters and opponents of the die-hard dictator who ruled Nigeria with strong hands for eight years before he was shown the way out through mass protests.
A large crowd of beneficiaries witnessed Babangida picking the People’s Democratic Party nomination form for the 2007 presidential race in Abuja. IBB was accompanied by his wife, Maryam, children and governor of Niger State. They drove in a Toyota Hiace 25-seater bus and went straight to the PDP chairman’s office, Senator Ahmadu Ali to pick the form.
Babangida waved to the crowd and smiled as they sang his praises. Other PDP chieftains, who received him at the PDP office located at Wadata Plaza, were Chief Ojo Madueke, National Secretary of the party, Vice Chairman, North, Ibrahim Shima, John Odey, publicity secretary. IBB, who spoke briefly said: “Today is the day, I have come to pick the form and I know that God will use the good people of Nigeria to make this dream come true and we shall all live to see a better 2007 and beyond.”
Babangida said he is seeking office not to "change the direction of Nigeria" but to "expand the frontiers of reforms that are designed towards building a better society." He insinuated President Olusegun Obasanjo cannot match his imagination in governance: "If I say I would copy President Obasanjo, this would be unfair. He has always expected his officers to be bold, innovative and imaginative. This is what I plan to do.”
General Babangida overthrew General Muhammad Buhari's military government in 1985, and established his new regime with new strategies, including implementing policies such the IMF's Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) that failed woefully.
During his eight years in office, looted public funds and created a class of soldiers and civilians who enriched themselves at the expense of the less-privileged. In 1993, Babangida was forced to retire from the military and hand over control of affairs to an unprepared interim government under the leadership of Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan, a civilian.
This fell victim to Babangida's subterfuge to extend his military government for selfish motives. Shonekan's transitional administration only lasted three months, as a palace coup led by General Sani Abacha via Shonekan's "resignation" forcefully dismantled the remaining democratic institutions and brought the government back under military control on Nov. 17, 1993.
Moreover, Babangida was accused of killing Dele Giwa, a popular Nigerian journalist who vowed to reveal the misdeeds of his government. Babangida joined civilian politics in 1999 and was said to be one of the key figures who invited the present Nigerian civilian president Olusegun Obasanjo to contest the presidential election of 1999 in order to pave the way for his own (Babangida's) presidential candidacy in 2007. It has been rumoured that Olusegun Obasanjo is very close to Babangida, and they have had their heads together to strategize Babangida's presidential candidacy next year.
Meanwhile, most Nigerians interviewed expressed dismay at Babangida's contesting the Nigerian presidency, viewing his return as threatening to cripple the country more and more. Babangida has been said to be the worst president the country ever had, stealing public funds to the extent that he is now rated among the richest people in the world. Indeed, Nov. 8 will mark a tipping point in Nigerian politics, a day Babangida, the man who ruled the country with an iron hand during 1985-1993, will get a chance to return to the presidential villa next year.
According to Daily Independent, there was confusion in the camp of Babangida over which political party he should choose in his quest to return to power, but he is expected to obtain the nomination form of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) "to satisfy political current pervading the nation." The party’s presidential primary is seven weeks away, and the deadline for the collection of the form is this Friday.
The supporters of Babangida are "caught between two schools of thought. It is not as if the debate on the party platform to choose had not been heated in our camp before now, the truth is that we never knew it was going to be as tough as we see it at the moment.
"There is no point hiding the truth. At times the acceptability of a particular aspirant could turn out to be an albatross. Here is a man with large followership in the PDP, AC, ANPP, APGA, NDP, DPA as well as the DPP.
"It is natural that the PDP family in our camp will want him to run on the platform of the party while others might prefer a coalition arrangement outside the PDP.
"But, as it is, in order to satisfy political currents pervading the country, he may have opted to obtain the PDP form so that someone, somewhere, will say his hands were tied because Ibrahim did not contest the primary on the PDP platform."
IBB 2007 Campaign National Publicity Director, Venatus Ikem, dismissed the claim, however.
"All along," he noted, "IBB has been a member of the PDP, whether or not he once considered other options is far from the truth. At best, we can describe that claim as the product of those who are intimidated by the growing and already established four men in the PDP.
"To be sure of what I am saying, you are free to join us as the man obtains his form on Wednesday."
The NDP had been hopeful that the man would pick the ticket and run on its platform.
Early this year, it was widely speculated that Babangida had made huge sums of money available to the NDP in his home state, Niger, to reactivate its moribond structures preparatory to giving the ruling PDP a good fight.
This was further given impetus when some PDP members defected to NDP, but a lie was given to the whole saga when some prominent members of the NDP close to the former military president, including some key national officers, moved to the PDP.
However, when Babangida’s son, Mohammed, was picked up by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and some of his business associates were being hunted by the body, rumours started flying again that the man may not have a favourable outing in the PDP and is considering other platforms to actualise his ambition.
This sparked a frenzy in other parties as they became hopeful that the self-acclaimed evil genius would eventually dump the octopus PDP for a coalition of political parties seeking his influence. Some of the parties offered him their ticket without any contest.
The information has laid to rest the speculation that Gen. Babangida might chicken out, following recent indictment of his regime by the Economic and Financial crimes commission.
Other aspirants who had, so far, obtained presidential nomination form on the party’s platform included Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, Rear Admiral Ebitu Ukiwe and Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu.
