No Going Back On Consensus Deal – Babangida
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 05, (THEWILL) – Former Military Dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida today restated his resolve to stand by the Northern Political Leaders Forum’s (NPLF) consensus agreement that adopted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the NPLF’s consensus candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primaries.
Babangida’s reassurance follows several media reports that he is being pressured to jettison the agreement and thereafter revive his presidential ambition.
General Babangida’s Media Aide, Prince Kassim Afegbua in a statement said: “To state the obvious, General Babangida is not contemplating jettisoning the consensus option because the rationale for the consensus in the first place, is still very much in place.
“Members of the IBB 2011 Presidential Campaign Organization are already being accommodated in the Amalgamated Atiku Campaign Organization to give the necessary support to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the forth-coming PDP Primaries.
“It is not only instructive for Journalists to be very thorough and profound in their news reportage, they must at all times cross check their facts and figures in order not to mislead members of the public who rely on their news item for one purpose or the other. Fact is, there was no ‘marathon’ meeting in Kano, Kaduna, Minna and Lagos as being reported by the newspaper,” the statement said.
On the report that Babangida would decamp to the National Democratic Party (NDP) to actualize his aspiration, Afegbau said: “We also wish to state that inasmuch as we appreciate the support, endorsement and open invitation of the leadership of the National Democratic Party towards General IBB, there has never been any platform where formal dialogue was entered into.
“Before now, the National Democratic Party has been in support of the presidential aspiration of the former President that is why we do not see its present support as something new. Former President General Babangida appreciates the overwhelming support being extended to him by distinguished Nigerians; home and abroad, and feels very strongly that the quest for the leadership of the country was not a personal and self-serving desire, but one that was borne out of altruistic and patriotic intentions to help rescue the country from its present economic and political morass.
“He is of the strong opinion that rule of law, as a cardinal principle of democracy, cannot be circumvented in a manner that tends to undermine the stability and unity of the country. His call for respect of the provisions of the PDP Constitution still stands and must be respected by all members who subscribe to the Party.”
Afegbua urged supporters of General Babangida and the public to disregard the reports.