Confusion as IBB backs Buhari in Niger, … Deputy Gov, 329 others defect to APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday reunited with ex-Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, who toppled him from office in 1985, when he visited the latter’s uphill mansion in Minna, Niger State capital.

Buhari’s visit to Babangida’s house was one of the highpoints of the APC presidential rally in Minna. At the meeting, Babangida commended Buhari for his steadfastness in vying for the country’s presidency.

Giving insight into what transpired in the meeting between Buhari and Babangida, APC vice presidential candidate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, posted a tweet, saying: “General Babangida has thrown his weight behind General Buhari. He says Buhari is the right man to move Nigeria forward.”

Confirming this, APC senatorial candidate for the Kogi West, Hon Dino Melaye, tweeted: “IBB endorses Buhari; IBB says: ‘We will all support Buhari to be president.”

Other sources said Babangida promised to mobilise other military Generals to support Buhari.

“All of us will support you in this course to salvage this country. As Majors then, we all fought to keep Nigeria one, we were well travelled and we know ourselves,” Babangida told Buhari.

The former military president was quoted as saying: ‘You have beaten some of us in proving General Douglas McArthur’s theory that ‘old soldiers never die, but fade away gradually,’ but you have refused to fade away.

“I want to commend APC for choosing our colleague as their flag bearer. All of us will support you (Buhari) in this course to salvage this country,” Babangida declared.

An elated Buhari thanked Babangida for the open support.”

On his relationship with Buhari, Babangida had stated: “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.”

Buhari, in his response, said though he failed to convert former President Olusegun Obasanjo into APC, he was happy that the former president had equally assured him of his support, saying he felt great at the assurance of support from the military.

Meanwhile, Minna literarily stood still yesterday as Gen. Buhari stormed the capital. The crowd was unprecedented.

The ground of the warm reception was laid in the morning when the Deputy Governor of the state, Hon. Ahmed Musa Ibeto, with about 330 members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected to the opposition APC.

Buhari who arrived in the state at 11.45am, had difficulty alighting from the aircraft that brought him as the teeming supporters besieged the plane to catch a glimpse of Buhari and welcome  him to the state

Buhari told his supporters that his government would be based on the tripod of agriculture, security and infrastructure. He said there can be no meaningful development in an atmosphere of insecurity and infrastructural decay, pointing out that the ruling PDP has failed in these areas.

“On security, we are going to equip the Army and other security agencies and accord them what belongs to them as their welfare”, Buhari said, adding that his administration will construct a dual carriageway from Minna to Kano.

According to him, the fight against insecurity will be total and assured the military that his administration will equip the Armed Forces and ensure that whatever is due to soldiers and police in terms of welfare will be given to them.

Buhari, who spoke in Hausa, told the crowd that attention will also be accorded the infrastructural decay by ensuring that he fixes major roads in the country.

The APC standard bearer, who arrived Minna with his running mate Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in a chartered flight along with other party chieftains, said his administration will leverage on the agricultural potentials of Niger State and the array of dams in the state to develop the sector.

He said education will be given prime attention when he takes over on May 29.

“But all these promises can only be made manifest if the people go out to vote, peacefully stay behind and ensure that their votes count”, Buhari said.

Earlier, Prof Osinbajo said that an APC government would also give attention to the power sector in order to move the nation forward.

Addressing the crowd, National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said President Goodluck Jonathan’s bid for second term was a betrayal of a promise he made in 2011. According to him, “President Jonathan in one of the African countries in 2011 promised to spend only four years. He went further to say that if he can’t fix Nigeria in four years, he will not be able to succeed in 20 years, so, why must we allow a man who failed to honour a promise he made four years ago?”.

In his address, the Director-General of Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign Organisation and Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, took a swipe on the PDP government and described the Jonathan administration as fraudulent.

He said people should not be carried away by the N10 slash in pump price announced on Sunday, noting that the new price regime was not only long overdue, but fell short of the global difference in oil price.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor Ibeto yesterday dumped the PDP. He made the declaration at his private residence, in Minna, flanked by a crowd of broom-wielding APC members during a press conference with some journalists.

“Yes, you are right and it is correct that we decided to defect from the PDP to APC for obvious reasons. You know what has happened in the state. There was a gubernatorial primary conducted by my former party, the PDP, which was not actually in accordance with the rules and regulations stipulated by the party. We decided to make our positions very clear to the national secretariat of the PDP at Abuja with evidences, hoping that the national secretariat would  actually take action, but they never did. So, we believed that if there is no justice, if there is no fair play in that party and equity, then it is no longer a party that we can belong to,” said Ibeto.