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.
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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.
“Those of us who fought the civil war and I still carry a bullet here as a permanent reminder in me, so anyone who talks about Nigeria’s unity, I get impassioned about it.
“So what I said is that the president believes in the unity of this country and any other person who believes in the unity of this country should support the president to keep the country one,” he said.
Continuing, Babangida said as far as the presidential election was concerned, all the 14 presidential candidates had his blessing.
“The only difference and I did mention it, is that I have not been able to read what they have to offer to this country and I am going to do that. Whoever offers what I was looking forward to I will cast my vote,” he said.
Babangida also spoke on the late Gen. Sani Abacha, saying that it never crossed his mind that his successor was going to seize power from the head of the interim government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, to whom he handed over power in 1993.
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.
“Those of us who fought the civil war and I still carry a bullet here as a permanent reminder in me, so anyone who talks about Nigeria’s unity, I get impassioned about it.
“So what I said is that the president believes in the unity of this country and any other person who believes in the unity of this country should support the president to keep the country one,” he said.
Continuing, Babangida said as far as the presidential election was concerned, all the 14 presidential candidates had his blessing.
“The only difference and I did mention it, is that I have not been able to read what they have to offer to this country and I am going to do that. Whoever offers what I was looking forward to I will cast my vote,” he said.
Babangida also spoke on the late Gen. Sani Abacha, saying that it never crossed his mind that his successor was going to seize power from the head of the interim government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, to whom he handed over power in 1993.
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