2007: Soyinka Gives IBB Condition
From Agaju Madugba in Kaduna
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has asked former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, before contesting for the presidency in 2007, to tender an unreserved public apology to Nigerians, for the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election results.
The Babangida administration's annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, believed to have been worn by the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, threw the nation into a major crisis. Several groups have been projecting Babangida's candidacy for the 2007 presidency.
Soyinka who spoke in Kadu-na yesterday explained that an apology was a pre-requisite for Babangida's participation in the 2007 presidential race.
The Nobel Laureate spoke at the Kaduna Metropolitan Club as part of his 70th birthday anniversary visit to Kaduna.
According to Soyinka, Babangida has no moral justification whatsoever to aspire to rule the nation in a democracy, as he (Babangida) had by the annulment of the 1993 presidential election, scuttled the democratic process.
Soyinka said, "if IBB wants to start on a clean slate, he must apologise to this nation. In fact, for a number of things but especially for faulting the democratic wishes of the nation.
"The results of the June 12 were not the result of one section alone, it was a national election. So, it was an assault on our democratic aspiration.
"This (apology) will be the beginning of an attempt to wipe the slate clean. Nigerians are kind and very accommodating. After that (the apology) he will then start to present his credentials as a candidate, like a new applicant.
"But, riding on the wings of having ruled this nation before is not the right way of proving your democratic credentials. Nigerians have become more sophisticated, politically," he added.
Noting that there has been a long-standing barricade for the emergence of a credible leadership for the nation, Soyinka said there was already a shortlist of candidates from which the president will eventually emerge in 2007.
He said that the shortlist was produced after series of consultations with his associates from across the country.
He, however, declined to give further insight warning that the security of the candidates may be in danger if identified.
Soyinka who had arrived Kaduna at about 1p.m. had headed for the Kaduna Central Prison with a number of relief materials for inmates but he was denied entry. The prison officials explained that there was no prior notice of his visit. Soyinka was detained at the prison for over two years during the civil war.
Soyinka later visited the home of chieftain of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Kaduna, Alhaji Samaila Mai'adashi, and also held discussions with chairman, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Mallam Balarabe Musa, Ambassador Yusuf Mamman and Alhaji Wada Nas, among others.
Soyinka was in Kaduna on the invitation of some civil society and human rights groups led by Mallam Shehu Sani, president of Civil Rights Congress.
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