IBB dissociates self from X post endorsing military rule

Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), has dissociated himself from a social media post that claims he endorsed military rule over democratic governance.

Babangida said that although the country is currently facing a number of challenges, the solution to the problems is ‘more’ democracy, not less.

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Babangida, in a statement from his media office, said the post is a blatant falsehood that has caused public confusion and some embarrassment to him.

Babangida stated that the dubious account includes his picture, name, and the coat of arms of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for added effect, but it does not belong to him, nor does the former President sanction any of the posts listed.

“We have just learned that it has posted a similarly fake statement where the former President was supposed to have said that Nigeria had the best years under military rule, democracy made things worse,” the statement read.

Babangida, however, noted that although the country is currently facing a number of challenges, the solution to the problems is ‘more’ democracy, not less.

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He added that the era of military intervention in Nigeria’s politics is long gone and he is proud that the Nigerian military has stood firmly behind multiple democratic governments in this country since 1999.

“As a nation, we are currently facing a number of challenges, but the former president has always expressed the view that we will eventually overcome these challenges and come out a stronger, more progressive nation. The solution to our problems, as he had said previously, is ‘more’ democracy, not less.

“General Babangida truly believes that the era of military intervention in Nigeria’s politics is long gone and he has said how proud he is that the Nigerian military has stood firmly behind multiple democratic governments in this country since 1999, thus giving us the longest run of civilian administration since independence.”

Babangida, however, urged the public to ignore posts from the parody account, stating that the user “has serially chosen to use the account to undermine democracy and spread stories capable of causing animosity.”

The statement added: “Sadly, there seems very little we can do to make the overseers of X or Twitter remove or sanction this tiresome account, so we are again obliged to advise the general public to ignore any post from this account that purportedly claims to represent my opinion.”