General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida
- PDP insists on APC candidate’s credentials
- Says he was not qualified to have been made a commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army
In an apparent endorsement of the presidential candidate of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, who he
overthrew in a bloodless coup 30 years ago, former military president,
General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has stated that retired generals
will support Buhari’s bid for the presidency.
Despite Babangida’s seeming endorsement, the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) on Monday insisted that the APC presidential candidate’s
failure to present his secondary school certificate in order to put paid
to questions over his eligibility to contest next month’s election, was
indicative that he was not even qualified to have been made a
commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army.
Babangida, who made this known on Monday in Minna, Niger State, when
Buhari paid him a visit, said: “They will support their own.”
Babangida said he was proud of the persistence and perseverance of
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 Gen. Douglas Macarthur’s theory
that old soldiers never die but fade away gradually. But you have
refused to fade away,” he added.
He went on to commended APC for honouring the military by nominating
Buhari, stating: “I wish to congratulate members of the party for the
honour of nominating my colleague, General Muhammadu Buhari, as your
presidential candidate for the 2015 election.”
Babangida also accused the media of misrepresenting his relationship
with Buhari, adding that it was far from what had been reported.
“You media men have created this impression that we are fighting each
other. Look at us here today, he knows what I mean and I know what he
means. We both fought to keep Nigeria one when we were young majors
then. We were well travelled.
“I want to commend APC for choosing our colleague as its
standard-bearer. All of us will support you (Buhari) in this course to
salvage this country,” IBB stated.
Earlier, the APC presidential candidate said he was in Minna in
continuation of his nationwide campaign for votes to salvage the country
from 16 years of misrule by the PDP government.
Buhari, who was elated with IBB’s words of support and encouragement,
said he had earlier met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo whom he
failed to lure to APC, but had given him confidence to pursue his
(Buhari’s) aspiration.
Meanwhile, the PDP has continued to question Buhari’s eligibility to
contest next month’s presidential election and went as far as
questioning his military career.
In a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential
Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the party said: “It is
disingenuous for Buhari to say that he contested previous elections and
that the issue of his qualifications did not arise.
“Had INEC not complied with the Electoral Act this year, which requires
that it pastes the academic credentials of all the presidential
candidates, Nigerians would have remained ignorant of the fact that
Buhari has probably been submitting affidavits for past elections.”
It maintained that the fact that he got away with it in the 2003, 2007
and 2011 elections did not make it right, adding: “The minimum that
Nigerians require from Buhari is the presentation of his secondary
school certificate which enabled him to gain admission into the Nigerian
Military College in 1962 and on which basis he became a commissioned
officer of the Nigerian Army.
“This forms the fulcrum for the subsequent courses that he attended as
he rose in the Army, including the U.S. War College. Failure to produce
that school certificate implies that Buhari's entire career in the army
was based on falsehood which cannot stand.
“This brings to question the admission system/policy into the army in
the early 1960s. Were the rules bent for certain individuals in
fulfillment of the quota system?”
PDP also made references to the book written by General Alabi Isama on
the Nigeria civil war titled, “The Tragedy of Victory: On the Spot
Account of the Nigerian-Biafran War in the Atlantic Theatre”, saying:
"Anyone that reads General Alabi Isama's book which was published last
year will know that this was the case.
“In fact, Alabi Isama went as far as to allege that some Nigerians were
admitted into the military academy without the necessary qualifications
like the secondary school certificate.
“We believe that Buhari was one of those people and this is why he is unable to produce his certificate.
"The truth is that he was never qualified for entry into the Military
Academy in the first place and consequently he should never have become a
commissioned officer let alone a man that rose to the rank of general.
At best, he ought to have remained a non-commissioned officer.
“As long as he cannot produce that secondary school certificate, we
believe that he is not qualified to run for the presidency of Nigeria.
This is a matter of law and not sentiment.
“Buhari, just like any other Nigerian, must be compelled to abide by
the law and he must prove his eligibility for the presidential election
by simply producing his secondary school certificate.”
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