Former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), has called on the defeated presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to work with President Muhammadu Buhari in the interest of the nation.
LEADERSHIP Sunday recalls that Gen Babangida was one of the prominent Nigerians, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had written public letters to President Buhari, pointing out certain shortcomings in his leadership style.
But while congratulating President Buhari for winning a very strenuous and keenly contested presidential election, the former military ruler urged Atiku to eschew bitterness and close ranks with the winner of the election in an objective and constructive manner so that democracy will continue to thrive in the country.
In a statement he released in Minna, Niger State, yesterday, Babangida said: “I call on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to close ranks and work with the winner of the election in an objective and constructive manner so that democracy will continue to thrive in our country at this crucial period of renaissance.
“I urge him (Atiku) also to endeavour and prevail on his admirers to eschew bitterness and violence. They must be prevailed upon to understand that politics is a game in which there must be only one winner.”
The former military leader congratulated the Nigerian electorate for conducting themselves peacefully during the voting process, for their enthusiasm in exercising their democratic rights of electing candidates of their choice. He also commiserated with those who lost their loved ones during the exercise.
“I wish to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, on his re-election to lead Nigeria in the next four years. I have observed that the electioneering campaign was very strenuous and the contest very keen, that despite the turbulent terrain of politics, the president submitted and subjected himself to this process. Indeed, it is a clear testimony that he believes in the democratic process and ideals,” he said.
Babangida, however, asked President Buhari to “heal the wounds of the heated campaign exchanges by embracing those who contested alongside with him.
“The president must resist the temptation to see them as enemies; not even opponents, but fellow compatriots who merely disagreed with him on how best to move our country forward.”
He urged the president to rededicate himself to tackling the major ills bedeviling the country in his second tenure.
“Now that the president has won his re-election bid, he (Buhari) should confront with renewed vigour the most urgent problem confronting Nigeria: insecurity of lives and property. The Boko Haram insurgency remains a threat to many Nigerians particularly in the North East region, while the twin evils of kidnapping and armed robbery/armed banditry remain a major national menace. The president must pay priority attention to these security issues,” he noted.
According to him, the economy of the country must also attract the president’s urgent attention through creative formulation of policies that would improve the nation’s economy, create employment opportunities and give hope to the teeming youths.
“The president may wish to heed to the yearnings of reasonable Nigerians for restructuring and seek all constitutional means to devolve some powers presently exercised by the federal government to the other tiers of government,” he advised.
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Babangida reserved some praise for Atiku in his failed quest, saying: “I was particularly impressed with the gallant and audacious spirit of the main challenger in the presidential race, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, GCON. I was not surprised that even though he lost the most exotic position of the land, his doggedness and pattern of support cut across ethnic, religious and regional lines.”
Ex-VP Inaugurates Legal Team, Urges Judiciary To Be Fearless
Meanwhile, Atiku Abubakar at the weekend inaugurated his legal team to challenge the result of the February 23 presidential election.
A statement signed by Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibe, disclosed that the legal team is headed by Dr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Wednesday, 27 February, declared Muhammadu Buhari winner of the election.
Bur Atiku the next day rejected the result, citing several irregularities, including the use of the military to intimidate voters in PDP strongholds, connivance of INEC officials, security agents and the ruling party to manufacture bogus figures and outright falsification of the returns from the polling units.
Consequently he had given notice that he would use all available legitimate means to challenge the result of the election.
On Thursday night the PDP presidential candidate met with members of the National Peace Committee, prompting concerns in some quarters that he may have been prevailed upon not to proceed with the legal challenge.
We Won’t Negotiate – PDP
Similarly, Atiku’s party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday declared that it was not ready for any form of negotiation with anybody over its resolve to challenge in court the outcome of the recent presidential election which its candidate lost.
The party stated this while denying the insinuations in some quarters that Atiku was making some demands of President Muhammadu Buhari, describing such talk as outright lies.
The PDP national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement, categorically said that Atiku had not, and will never make or accept any condition from President Buhari regarding “the rigged February 23, 2019 presidential election, which he (Atiku) clearly won.”
Ologbondiyan said, “The Buhari Presidency and the APC know that their electoral robbery cannot stand before any noble justices and are now attempting to use all sorts of blackmail and shenanigans to derail the quest by Nigerians to reclaim the stolen mandate at the tribunal.
“However, let it be known to President Buhari and the APC that Atiku Abubakar and the PDP are standing shoulder to shoulder with Nigerians in this collective determination to take back the stolen mandate and we are not ready for any form of negotiation with anybody on this matter.
“Our party and candidate remain committed to the huge sacrifices made by Nigerians in ensuring our collective victory as delivered at the polling units across the country; we are mindful of the pains that Nigerians are passing through since the subversion of their will at the polls; we are sensitive to the expectations that millions of compatriots place on our shoulders in this struggle and we will never let Nigerians down.
“We have all the authentic results from all the polling units as well as forensic evidence of manipulations by the APC and INEC. We will bare them all at the tribunal and the court will give justice to Nigerians,” the party said.
The PDP further added that nothing will change its resolve to pursue what it called “despicable electoral fraud, unknown in our political history”, to its end.
It promised to devote every energy necessary to reclaim its mandate and have Atiku Abubakar declared President, in line with the will of the people as delivered at the polling units on February 23, 2019.
“Anything short of this is not acceptable and no amount of false reports, connivance, contrivance, intimidation, harassment and fresh attacks on our leaders, including the Director General of our Presidential Campaign, Senate President Bukola Saraki, whose residence was besieged by security agents last night, can alter this resolve,” the party vowed.
