Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida has publicly dissociated himself from a social media post purportedly endorsing military rule over democratic governance.
The clarification came through a statement from his media office, signed by Mahmud Abdullahi.
According to the statement, the controversial post appeared on a parody account on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.
The account, which falsely presented itself as General Babangida’s official account, used his image and the coat of arms of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to create a misleading appearance of authenticity.
“This dubious account carries our principal’s picture and 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 post appearing there,” the statement clarified.
General Babangida, who ruled Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, reiterated his staunch support for democratic governance. He emphasized that Nigeria’s democracy is resilient and firmly established. “For the avoidance of doubt, General Babangida (rtd) believes that Nigeria’s democracy is resilient and has come to stay and that we must do everything we can to safeguard the process,” the statement read.
The former president acknowledged the challenges currently facing the nation but expressed confidence in Nigeria’s ability to overcome these obstacles through a strengthened commitment to democratic principles. “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,” the statement added.
General Babangida also praised the Nigerian military for its role in supporting democratic governance since the transition to civilian rule in 1999.
“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,” the statement concluded.
