FORMER Head of State, Gen Ibrahim Babangida on Saturday announced his final withdrawal from active politics, saying that it is time for the young generation to take over the leadership of the country.

He, however, canvassed a five-party system as the best option for the country against the 63 registered political parties.

Answering questions after casting his vote at the Up Hill polling station, Sabon Gari, Minna, Babangida said he believes there will be a realignment of political parties in the future, adding that he tried two political parties but hopes the number could be brought to a manageable size of five.

Accompanied by his daughter, Halima and son, Mohammed, the former Head of State said that he is still a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that as a founding father, would never leave PDP for another party.

On the chances of the PDP winning the presidential election, Babangida said, “Going by what I have been reading in the newspapers, everybody has a chance. Politics is like a game; if you lose, try again and that is the essence of politics.”

On the security situation in the country, reoccurring incidences of bomb blast and the call from some quarters for military intervention, Babangida said,  “I have always said that the military is an aberration; we shouldn’t introduce them into our politics now, we have had it before and I don’t support that we introduce military to come and truncate our democratic process, not even to take part in our electoral process.

“However, we should be vigilant and sensitive to issues around us especially on security, I think State Police would solve our security problem.”

Babangida commended the large turn out of Nigerians for the exercise and praised Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for providing an enabling environment for a free and fair elections.

Also speaking , Niger State Governor, Dr Babangida Aliyu said the large turn out of voters for the election is an indication that Nigerians are beginning to appreciate what democracy is all about.

He observed that the 2011 general elections had laid the foundation for the entrenchment of democracy in the country.

The governor noted that the State government had corrected the mistakes observed during the National Assembly election adding that following the two incidences of bomb blast, Suleja has been identified as a flash point areas while enough security personnel have been deployed to the area to prevent any form of security breach. He advocated for community policing.

Also speaking, wife of former Head of State, Justice Fati Abubakar expressed satisfaction with the arrangements put in place by INEC to ensure a hitch-free exercise, describing it as a new dawn for the country.

Posted by admin on Apr 16 2011. Filed under General Politics, Latest Politics, National Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry