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They are known to be very close
associates. General Ibrahim Babangida,
IBB and Colonel Abubakar Umar are like
the best of friends .It seems the
friendship has largely been sustained by
the unrelenting frankness and
forthrightness of Umar who is the
junior partner in the relationship
.Each time he sees his boss about to
derail, Umar has always spoken out where
others will either keep quiet or agonize
in silence.
IBB has been in the news lately
fighting tooth and nail to clinch the
PDP presidential ticket .There are other
aspirants including incumbent President
Goodluck Jonathan and Atiku Abubakar and
possibly General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau
who is yet to openly declare his
intention.But it is IBB’s unrelenting
desire to battle for the PDP ticket
against a sitting president from the
South-South that has been drawing
attention to the race.IBB and his
co-contestants from the north insist the
presidency has been zoned to the North
and Jonathan should not contest.
Jonathan, evidently propelled by the
incumbency factor has however told the
governors of PDP that he would contest ,
thus bringing to and end to the
speculation over whether or not the
president will run.
Despite Jonathan declaration of intent
,General Babangida is also going ahead
to slug it out within the party in what
is shaping up to be a titanic political
war.IBB is scheduled to declare his
presidential ambition formally at the
Eagle Square in Abuja today .In fact
newsdiaryonline observed that some of
his associates arrived Abuja since
Tuesday morning in preparation for what
they call the big day.
But not all IBB associates are impressed
by what they view as Babangida’s
misguided political move.Newsdiaryonline
has learnt that Umar has once again been
one of those who have been brutally
frank in warning IBB .It was gathered
that Umar in his chats with IBB had told
him it is unwise for him to be in the
presidential race now.Sources say Umar
believes IBB should remain more like a
statesman or like a godfather who his
associates should be consulting for
advice now.Umar was said to have been
shocked when some journalists called him
to inquire about insinuations that he
was one of those scheduled to attend and
make a speech at the IBB rally.He
swiftly told who cared to know that he
would not be there.Though he did not
formally write to IBB to warn him,
sources said Umar actually tried to talk
his former boss out of the race.
Even more the radical former military
governor of Kaduna state believes it
will be unfortunate for IBB to join a
race against a sitting president .Newsdiaryonline
source say some of IBB’s associates
believe It is very unlikely that IBB
will defeat Jonathan in a contest and
such a defeat will finally destroy
IBB.But Babangida’s decision to go ahead
with his formal declaration is that
indication that he is ignoring the words
of caution from Umar and some of his
associates.It is learnt that 90 percent
of those known as IBB boys are unhappy
with now .That is why most of them will
not be at the formal launch of his
campaign today.Even those who show up
may be doing so quite unhappily
newsdiaryonline learnt.It was learnt
that some of IBB boys believe he should
not be the one contesting now,he should
at best be seen giving support to any of
his boys particularly from the middle
belt now such as David Mark,John
Shagaya or General Chris Alli or even
Iyorchia Ayu or any other person but
not IBB.``Can you imagine if Jonathan
defeats IBB .Jonathan is several years
younger than IBB and it does not speak
well of him at all to be in a contest
against the president.`` one source
said.But IBB believes he can weather the
storm.Himself and Atiku seem to be
`working together in the interest of the
North to tackle Jonathan’ whether they
will succeed remains to be seen.But it
is believed Jonathan’s PDP challengers
are riding on the crest of the feeling
of betrayal by some northerners who
feel this chance to field a presidential
candidate is being stolen from them.
Will IBB regret going ahead despite the
advice from Umar? Only time will tell
.But Umar and IBB have come long way
together in their seemingly tumultuous
relationship.Though Umar has
consistently told IBB not to take some
steps, IBB has Interestingly always had
his fingers burnt after ignoring Umar’s
warnings.Umar for instance protested
against the annulment of June 12,1993
presidential elections which M KO Abiola
won.In fact ,he resigned from the Army
in protest against the annulment. Up
till date IBB regrets the
annulment.Sources said Umar also warned
IBB against leaving General Sani Abacha
behind after IBB decided to quit in the
heat of the June 12 crisis.He also
regrets leaving Abacha behind ,sources
said.There were warnings from some
people including Umar ,sources revealed
,against installing Obasanjon as
president in 1998,but IBB ignored the
warning and he is still regretting that
miscalculation today.Umar actually
supported Alex Ekwueme's presidential
bid in 1998.
Now IBB wants to contest against
Jonathan despite some wise counsel from
Umar and others who think he should
steer clear of the fray.Whether IBB will
regret this as well remains in the womb
of time.
Zackary’s comment:
IBB should contest.Jonathan too is free to contest,but the process should be free
and fair.If anybody loses in a free contest,no hard feelings.Why are people so
envious of IBB?
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