Babangida stated this during a talk show on Channels TV, adding that all the candidates had displayed passion for the unity of the country and therefore, they all have his support.
Asked by the presenter of the programme, Ms. Kadaria Ahmed, if he had thrown his weight behind Jonathan, Babangida said he alluded to it.
“I did allude to that. I said I found him as someone who has a very strong belief about the unity of this country.
“Those of us who fought the civil war and I still carry a bullet here as a permanent reminder in me, so anyone who talks about Nigeria’s unity, I get impassioned about it.
“So what I said is that the president believes in the unity of this country and any other person who believes in the unity of this country should support the president to keep the country one,” he said.
Continuing, Babangida said as far as the presidential election was concerned, all the 14 presidential candidates had his blessing.
“The only difference and I did mention it, is that I have not been able to read what they have to offer to this country and I am going to do that. Whoever offers what I was looking forward to I will cast my vote,” he said.
Babangida also spoke on the late Gen. Sani Abacha, saying that it never crossed his mind that his successor was going to seize power from the head of the interim government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, to whom he handed over power in 1993.
“It never crossed my mind that Abacha would overthrow the interim government, quite honestly, it never did. But when he executed the coup, it didn’t come to me as a surprise because all of you in this country gave him the wherewithal to do it. A coup always succeeds if there was a frustration in the society and that frustration was orchestrated.
Asked by the presenter of the programme, Ms. Kadaria Ahmed, if he had thrown his weight behind Jonathan, Babangida said he alluded to it.
“I did allude to that. I said I found him as someone who has a very strong belief about the unity of this country.
“Those of us who fought the civil war and I still carry a bullet here as a permanent reminder in me, so anyone who talks about Nigeria’s unity, I get impassioned about it.
“So what I said is that the president believes in the unity of this country and any other person who believes in the unity of this country should support the president to keep the country one,” he said.
Continuing, Babangida said as far as the presidential election was concerned, all the 14 presidential candidates had his blessing.
“The only difference and I did mention it, is that I have not been able to read what they have to offer to this country and I am going to do that. Whoever offers what I was looking forward to I will cast my vote,” he said.
Babangida also spoke on the late Gen. Sani Abacha, saying that it never crossed his mind that his successor was going to seize power from the head of the interim government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, to whom he handed over power in 1993.
“It never crossed my mind that Abacha would overthrow the interim government, quite honestly, it never did. But when he executed the coup, it didn’t come to me as a surprise because all of you in this country gave him the wherewithal to do it. A coup always succeeds if there was a frustration in the society and that frustration was orchestrated.
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