Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, on Sunday, in Minna, explained why he did not retire General Sani Abacha, when he stepped aside in1993, following the annulment of June 12 presidential election of that year, insisting that he was concerned with the future security and peace of the nation.
Abacha was the only senior military officer holding political office, who escaped the mass purge in military that preceded the stepping aside of General Babangida.
Speaking in Minna on Sunday, Babangida took a critical look at the pacts he had with the two former heads of state, Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Sani Abacha that enabled them to assume power at various periods in the country, insisting that he was concerned with the future security and unity of the nation.
He spoke at at interactive session with members of the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Niger State.
Babangida explained that General Abacha was spared from the mass retirement that hit the rank of senior military officers at the time he was stepping aside in 1993, based on the calculation that General Abacha would help to stabilise the Interim Government and douse the political tension that had mounted over the annulment of June 12 1993 election..
He explained that at the time he “stepped aside”, the situation was very fragile, adding that if the military profession was left in the hands of the young inexperienced officers, they would have tore the nation apart in coup d’états.”
