Babangida Aliyu, a former Governor of Niger State, has stated the former military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, was lucky to have a chance to apologise to Nigerians for some of his actions.
The Peoples Democratic Party chieftain said the former military leader deserves to be forgiven for his actions, especially in the annulment of the June 12 1993 presidential election.
Recall that Babangida, on Thursday, expressed regret over the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, acknowledging that the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Moshood Abiola, won the poll.
In the concluding section of the 12th chapter of his autobiography launched in Abuja, titled, ‘A Journey In Service,’ the former leader described the annulment of the election as an “accident of history.”
Admitting his error, Babangida said, “Although I am on record to have stated after the election that Abiola may not have won the election, upon deeper reflection and a closer examination of all the available facts, particularly the detailed election results…there was no doubt that MKO Abiola won the June 12 election.”
During an appearance on Arise News programme, Prime Time, on Thursday, Aliyu said the unveiling of Babangida’s memoir is significant for the country.
The former governor also commended the ex-military leader for apologising to Nigerians for his action in the annulment of the 1993 presidential election.
He said, “I was so happy that this, again, the human element that we should encourage and that certain things do happen, not necessarily because we are enemies, but because of the time.
“I consider today one of the luckiest days of my brother, Ibrahim Babangida. President IBB is lucky he got a chance to apologise after 32 years to be able to say and indeed apologise to Nigerians for some of the actions he took.
“The former President has always been a great man. If you recall, in his youthful days, he was a prefect and a head boy, and gradually. till he became the Head of State. that shows that he was really ready to lead.
He is a man of very high consideration. A man I have known since I was a small boy. He is very gifted with a sense of forgiveness and generosity. I believe the unveiling of his memoir is significant for Nigeria.”