Ibrahim Babangida speaks on INEC card-readers and interim government

Former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida(retd.), has backed INEC’s use of card readers for the forthcoming general election. This is contrary to the position of his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has continuously opposed the use of the card readers. Making this disclosure in a statement, on Wednesday, by his media office, Babangida said the card reader was a novel innovation worth trying. He heaped praises on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for bridging the technological gap in the country. He said in the statement: “We must appreciate the creativity and innovation of the card reader which INEC has introduced to make for better election credibility and transparency.

“In a digital world where almost everything is driven by technology, the offer of the card reader is a welcome development. We may not get to the fullest merit of this, but it is a good way to start. This is one way to bridge the technological gap between those developed and under-developed nations of the world.Let us repose confidence in the system in the interest of the unity of our great country.”

Babangida in the statement dismissed reports that he was part of a team scheming for an interim national government to be put in place instead of conducting general election. He said: “Following different reports and analyses in the print and on-line media, it has become expedient in the life of our political history to make certain clarifications to avoid unwarranted cynicisms usually promoted by naysayers and political apologists to score cheap political mileage. One would have ignored this lazily scripted and well orchestrated political permutation as the usual run-of-the-mill chit-chat and ridiculous permutation that is often on sale in our political lexicon, but for record purposes, this statement becomes instructively appropriate.

“To state the obvious, let it be on record that I am not in any way connected with alleged “plans” to encourage, promote, orchestrate or moot, the idea of an interim government or whatever “contraption” so called. I did state categorically in 2011 that I was quitting partisan politics and wouldn’t want to be ordered around in any way or form as seeking public office in whatever guise. I took that decision when I attained the age of 70 and I stand by that decision till date.’’

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.