• Aide says 16 governors endorse former military leader’s presidential bid

Former President, Genera Ibrahim Babangida has vowed that the antics of his critics would not prevent or discourage him from testing his popularity by running for President in the 2011 elections. 

He made this known yesterday while reacting to several media reports allegedly aimed at discrediting his person.

In a statement by his media spokesman, Prince Kassim Afegbua, General Babangida said he knows the character of those who are currently mushrooming as social activists and human rights defenders and their chief sponsors. 

“All these criticisms would not stop General IBB to run for elections in 2011 in expression of his constitutional rights as a distinguished citizen of this great country,” said the statement issued by Afegbua, who is also the Acting National Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP). 

This is coming on the heels of reports that 16 of the 36 state governors have thrown their weight behind Babangida’s bid for election as president in the 2011 elections.

The statement issued yesterday by Afegbua wondered why it is only when the former military President signified his intention to run for election that such “irritant pretenders” suddenly jumped into action. 

It said that Lagos has become a breeding ground for self-acclaimed activists whose conducts fall below the conditionality of accountability, transparency and probity. “They shout blue murder at their season of convenience while they plunder the resources they get from foreign grants without accounting for same, yet when they talk of accountability, one will think these characters are products from the mars,” said the statement. 

It challenged General Babangida’s accusers to publish their records and statements of accounts of their respective organisations in the last ten years, if they truly believe in transparency and anti-corruption, and Nigerians would be shocked at the level of rot in those organizations. 

On the Okigbo Report discourse, the statement said “General Babangida was neither indicted by the Okigbo Report nor was there anywhere the report questioned him on the handling of the so-called funds. 

“What the report said was that much of the funds were concentrated on infrastructural development of the Federal Capital Territory which in the opinion of the Panel was not priority areas,” the statement added.

It stressed that the report also called for the overhaul of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to enable it perform its functions optimally, adding that while calling for the reforms of the CBN, the Okigbo report also recommended the dismissal and retirement of some key staff of the apex Bank. “The idea of a $12.4 billion oil windfall only exists in the imagination of those who are largely unfamiliar with the issues of that era. There was nothing like $12.4 billion windfall,” it stated. 

Meanwhile, an aide of the former military President disclosed at the weekend that IBB has concluded plans to formally declare his ambition to contest for the 2011 presidential election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). 

The aide told Peoples Daily in Abuja, that Babaginda will publicly make his ambition known any time from the end of this month. 

He stated that 16 governors and the United States government have already endorsed Babaginda’s ambition to govern the country for a second time as civilian President. 

The source told one of our reporters that: “He (IBB) will run; there is no going back again. He will declare his ambition any time from end of this month. 

“Already, 16 governors have endorsed him and more are still coming. Also the United States has endorsed him and he will contest under the PDP.” 

In an interview Babaginda granted this newspaper last year, the ex-military ruler said he was not interested in contesting the 2011 polls. 

However, the man often referred to as “Maradona” when he was in power from 1985 to 1993, may have been forced by circumstances to change his mind following indications that President Umaru Yar’adua may be incapable or unwilling to contest the 2011 election because of his health condition. 

Last week, while returning from Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital where he had gone to attend the birthday anniversary of Governor Gbenga Daniel, Babaginda told airport correspondents in Lagos that he was consulting with stakeholders on his presidential ambition. 

Similarly, an unconfirmed report by an online news portal, Pointblanknews.com said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is championing the campaign for IBB’s return within the PDP.

Pointblanknews.com quoted sources who confirmed that both men have met five times in the recent past to fine-tune strategies on how to actualise the plan to make Babaginda President in 2011, with the latest meeting taking place on Thursday at Otta. 

The news portal further reported that Babaginda’s campaign to become President after the exit of Yar’adua next year is being coordinated by Senate President David Mark and Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu.  

The choice of Mark is for the Senate President to mobilise support for Babaginda amongst PDP members of the National Assembly while Governor Aliyu’s role is to rally support for the ex-military leader among state governors. 

But Peoples Daily could not independently confirm all this claims by the online news site.

By Tom Chiahemen & Henry Omunu