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A former Transport and Aviation Minister and chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has cautioned former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to be cautious of his utterances bordering on a possible military coup in the country following rescheduling of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Babatope, who is also a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, said,“Obasanjo has always been a member of the Buhari clique and now that he has spoken, we now know that there might be a silence military conspiracy to overthrow the civilian and then get military back to power, but I want to assure them that by the grace of God they will be roasted in their own military plan. I’m crying out now; I want Nigerians and the whole world to know.”
On the endorsement of Buhari for the presidential race, Babatope said: “I’m not surprised at all, because when you follow historical antecedents of Obasanjo and Buhari in January 1984, immediately after the coup that brought Buhari into power, Obasanjo issued a press statement in support of the coup and the media quoted him to have said that ‘the coup of Buhari was timely, in that it was going to be inconsiderable to find Nigerians go to polls every four years to elect a president’. To me, it was anti-democratic.
“Then, he went ahead and said that West African sub-region was being governed by military and that it would be strange if Nigeria was bored with the military fold of the West African regimes at that time.Consequent upon this declaration, Buhari appointed Obasanjo as the roving ambassador under his administration. These facts can be checked by the media, because I know what am talking about.He remained an ambassador of Buhari till his government was overthrown on August 27 by former president, Ibrahim Babangida.
“There are facts that Obasanjo is romancing Buhari, but it makes no news to me. It could make news to people who were very young at that time. Nigeria will defend its democracy; Nigerians must defend democracy to the last point. If Obasanjo and his military officers wake up to say ‘good morning fellow Nigerians’, I assure them that they will never be pardoned by history.
“All I know is that we, in the PDP are going to support President Goodluck Jonathan. We are going to support democracy and like President Jonathan said: “If I lose, I will leave power;” that is the best thing to say, but concerning this fellow and others threatening us with coup, I wish all of them the best of luck. Having said that, I will never call on the PDP to expel Obasanjo. It should just ignore him totally and completely, because he can carry opinions he is opposed to, to a very ridiculous conclusion.”
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