Ex-NDP chieftain says IBB must contest presidential poll
By KENNY ASHAKA, Kaduna
Monday, November 10, 2008

•Babangida
Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Those foreclosing the possibility of former military President emerging in a contest for Nigeria’s Presidency had better put on their thinking cap again. This is because one of the arrowheads of "IBB for President" in 2003 and 2007, who was the Kaduna State chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Alhaji Hassan Mohammed Jallo has renewed the call for supporters of the former military president to rally round him in the 2011 presidential poll.

Speaking with Daily Sun in an exclusive interview in Kaduna, Jallo emphasized: "I said in 2011, we are going to call on Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida to come and contest for the Presidency of Nigeria against anybody. I will be the first person to call on Ibrahim Babangida to come and contest against everybody including Yar’Adua on the platform of PDP.
He also said despite the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar’s brilliant political career, the former military president surpasses him (Atiku) in the art of political strategy.

IBB must contest in 2011
Jallo is not a man to cow once he believes in a cause. He told Daily Sun that "In 2011, if God decides to bring change in Nigeria , I will be the first person to call on Ibrahim Babangida to come and contest against everybody including Yar’Adua on the platform of the PDP. I said come 2011, we are going to call on Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida to come and contest for the presidency of Nigeria against anybody. People should not rule out the possibility of IBB contesting again in 2011."
Jallo admits that his ultimate ambition is to ensure that IBB rules Nigeria again. But he denies being in the PDP to lay the foundation for an IBB Presidency. "Now, we need leaders that can take us forward. Nigeria with all our resources, we are still backwards. Nigeria with all our resources has not achieved anything," he said.

Asked to make a categorical statement on whether or not IBB would contest the 2011 presidential poll, Jallo waxed philosophical; saying only God can decide. "Only God can effect change at anytime he wants. So, people should not rule out the possibility of IBB coming out to contest. Today, Obama has won the US Presidency; but when he started people didn’t take him serious. God can bring change at anytime.

"What Nigeria needs today is change for the better. Change for good. We want a clean democrat; somebody that can lead the country. Nigeria is dying. What Nigeria needs is change," he said.
But does the incumbent President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua lack the qualities of a clean democrat? Jallo stared straight into the eyes of the reporter, but parried the question, saying "I did not support Yar’Adua in the last election."

Is Yar’Adua not doing well now? You ask again. As if not sure of what to say, Jallo shifted from his initial sitting position and said, "Well. , this question, if you ask anybody along the street, he would answer you ."

IBB, better than Yar’Adua
One particular question drew the attention of Jallo. When asked why he would not allow Yar’Adua to continue after his first tenure, Jallo said: "I have a choice, to support any leader I believe can deliver. Yar’Adua has been in power for the past one and half years. Agreed, Yar’Adua met a lot of problems on ground, but when you have two choices or conflicting interests, one interest must give way to the other. Much as I support Yar’Adua, I prefer Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.

"There might not be anything wrong with Yar’Adua, apart from the fact that he is too slow. But when you have two conflicting interests, one of them must give way to the other. And I cannot choose anybody other than Ibrahim Babangida. So, when you ask me to choose between IBB and President Yar’Adua, I will definitely go for Ibrahim Babangida. Agreed, there is nothing wrong with Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He is still in the learning process. He is still trying to find his feet and start ruling. He has not started ruling yet. Yar’Adua is just a leader. He has taken the mantle of leadership. Even blindly, I will follow Ibrahim Babangida. I believe he is the best. I believe he can deliver. I believe he can take Nigeria to the Promised Land."

Atiku, no match IBB
On whether former vice president Atiku Abubakar should return to the PDP, Jallo said. "I have never supported Atiku. And I will never support Atiku. If he wants to come back to the PDP, he is welcome. At least he would add value to the party. Whether people like it or not, Atiku is a good politician. My support goes to Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. He is the only man I believe in. In Nigerian politics, you cannot rule Atiku out. If he wants to contest, let him do so; but Atiku is no match to IBB. He is not even close to IBB," he said. But what does IBB have going for him? Is it his record as a past leader? Jallo answered "IBB is a crowd puller, anytime, any day, anywhere. There is no basis for comparing IBB with Atiku.

When it comes to political strategy, crowd pulling, Atiku cannot match IBB. Forget about the past that people used government machinery because they were in power to stop IBB from contesting. Why they did that is because they are afraid of him. If you do not use government machinery and you allow the masses to choose their own leader, you will see who will win. There is nobody in Nigeria dead or alive that can match IBB’s popularity. He is a crowd puller and he has political sagacity.

So let the government put its propaganda, money and machinery aside; if you allow the masses to elect their leader, IBB will win. When IBB comes out, nobody will beat IBB. In any ward, local government and state in Nigeria , only IBB would be heard. If the government of Olusegun Obasanjo then had allowed democracy to take place during the PDP primaries, without government’s interference and imposition of a particular candidate, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua could not have got the ticket of the PDP. It is because the government of the day had interest in Umaru Musa Yar’Adua that they scared other candidates away to pave the way for Yar’Adua.

If not what the government of Olusegun Obasanjo did, Umaru Yar’Adua would not have been president today. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida would have picked the ticket of the PDP. Governors were threatened to give their votes to a particular candidate. PDP should allow democracy to thrive in Nigeria. The thriving of democracy in Nigeria actually depends on the PDP. PDP should stop interfering in whom a particular candidate for a particular office should be. They should allow democracy to take root and allow God to decide who the leader is. In so far as the government of the day will determine who should contest and who should not and then use government machinery for their candidate and stop others from contesting, it won’t take us anywhere.

Why I left NDP
Hassan Mohammed Jallo has been a major player in a not-so-minor league when it comes to IBB presidential ambition. When Jallo agreed to speak again on IBB and his presidential ambition in 2011, it was certain that he was prepared for what might be called a brawl with anti-IBB politicians. Jallo earned more attention from the reporter when he poured slurry on the leadership of the NDP.
The question as to why he left the NDP was one that electrified the self-acclaimed IBB man; but he took his time to explain.

"I left NDP because a lot of things happened. There were a lot of leadership crisis then and uptill now, it is still persisting. And our leaders then were not sincere to us. But we discovered that very late. And because of that, I felt I should not be in that team. Once you are with a leader, that leader should be able to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But once a leader deviates and starts deceiving his followers, then that is not the team I should belong to. That was why I decided to opt out."

IBB should shun NDP
Jallo who has since joined the PDP in Kaduna State said "NDP was not willing to support any presidential candidate other than IBB even though he (IBB) was in the PDP. The Constitution of Nigeria or that of NDP did not stop NDP from supporting a preferred candidate that it believes can deliver.
According to him, NDP was formed purposely to realize the presidential ambition of Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. "I still believe in that principle and I will forever support anything IBB stands for. I am for IBB any time any day," he said. However, Jallo is now singing a different tune. And he tried to justify it.

"I will not support IBB to go and contest presidential poll on the platform of the NDP. At the time we were fighting for IBB to come and contest under NDP, we didn’t know what was going on in the NDP. Now, I know better and I will never ever support IBB to even associate himself with such kind of leaders. So, I will not support IBB to contest in the NDP today. I did it years back and I did it blindly and I regretted because I was deceived. Once you believe in a leader and you find out eventually that the leader is not telling you the truth, it pains you. Somebody you do not believe could hurt a fly and suddenly you find him killing an elephant, it pains you. So in order not to quarrel and create friction among yourselves, you better leave. And that was what I did."

IBB should contest under PDP. If NDP comes to him again, he should shun them. I, Hassan Mohammed Jallo, say so. This is because there are no longer good leaders in NDP. I say so and I should be quoted anywhere. IBB should shun NDP because there are no sincere leaders in the NDP. I know the kind of people they are and I know how we started. I am a founding member of NDP. Nobody would tell me how NDP was formed. I will not support IBB to even team up with the NDP.
I will never support that. NDP can support IBB’s presidential ambition but not IBB contesting on their platform. No way. That will never happen. Not when we are alive. I will do anything within my power to block it." http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2008/nov/10/national-10-11-2008-001.htm

so this man never thief reach for naija