SENATOR SLAMS IBB OVER ATTACK ON OBASANJO

General Ibrahim Babangida has been roundly condemned over his scurrilous attack on former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

IBB had in an interview to mark his 70th birthday described Obasanjo's eight- year rule as a failure.

But reacting yesterday, Senator Kola Ogunwale defended Obasanjo saying he did very well. In fact, he charged the Minna-born general to beg Allah for forgiveness for the untold hardship his regime brought on Nigerians.

'For eight years that General Babangida was in the saddle, there was no iota of developmental programme that he put in place, except maradonic tendencies, that has thrown up mediocres in the corridors of power, without any commensurate achievements to show for it,' he said.

According to the Osun-born senator, 'It is the same General Babangida that threw the whole nation into jeopardy through the criminal annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election and in the process, made Nigeria to lose one of its finest citizens in person of the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola. 'General Babangida should stop taking Nigerians for a ride through his unguarded utterances. Obasanjo ensured stability in our body polity and whether we like it or not, he has ensured that democracy come to stay with one civilian administration handling over to another.

'General Babangida needs to do a rethink on his years in power and use the Ramadan period to ask Allah for forgiveness concerning the hardship he brought on the ways of Nigerians. He should keep silent forever and watch events as they unfold under the divinely ordained leadership According to the statement: 'Obasanjo became the Head of State in 1976 and handed over rulership voluntarily in 1979, thereby, fulfilling the norms of democracy, while General Babangida conducted the fairest and freest election in 1993, yet he refused to handover. General Babangide was the ruler of Nigeria for eight years, during which we witnessed increase in our external debt and decrease in our external reserve.

'In 1999 Nigeria external debt was N34billion, which Obasanjo cleared through hard negotiation with the Paris Club of creditors. He subsequently left an external reserve of N45billion when he left office in 2007.

'As a leader who believes in industrial revolution and worked towards it, Chief Obasanjo wouldn't have toyed with the power sector reliability.

The problem with power sector are so extricating in a vast country like Nigeria. And can we rule out sabotage in some of the measures taken by Obasanjo at improving the power sector as a school of thought believes. Giving the fact that Obasanjo may not be a saint and that he does not possess monopoly of wisdom, it may be that most of these power project contracts were abandoned or sabotaged without his knowledge.'

Ogunwale expressed optimism that President Goodluck Jonathan will try his best to accomplish his transformation project, without meddling from the types of General Babangida. 'This is not the time for General Babangida to put his well-known horse-trading skills and power intrigues, which was his survivalist norm when in power. Nigerians now know better.

Nigerian are well-articulated and well-versed in political happenings around them. General Babangida, I said with all emphasis at my disposal, cannot navigate the extreme odds against him as far as his political sins against Nigerian are concerned,' he declared.