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A former military Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) (retd.), was accused on Tuesday by a former officer of the Guards Brigade of trying to distance himself from some of the most controversial decisions made under his administration.
The former officer who spoke with Sahara Reporters pointed to the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the execution of Maj. Gen. Mamman Vatsa as part of the controversial decisions taken by IBB.
According to the officer, Babangida as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief at the time, ought to accept full responsibility for decisions made by the military government, irrespective of whether other senior officers were involved.
The former officer, who said he served as a lieutenant in the Guards Brigade during Babangida’s regime, said his distrust of Babangida deepened following the annulment of the June 12 presidential election, widely believed to have been won by the late businessman and politician, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
According to him, an encounter during a Ramadan Iftar at the Presidential Villa in March or April 1993 made him suspicious that Babangida knew Abiola would not be allowed to assume power.
He said, “IBB is completely evil. Satanic, really. I was in the Guards Brigade as a lieutenant when the June 12 election annulment occurred.
“I hated him from that time, especially when he later blamed others, especially Abacha, for the decision.”
The former officer recalled that he and two other officers from the 7 Guards Battalion were invited to break their Ramadan fast with Babangida at the Villa.
He said the late Abdulrahman Okene, whom he later learnt had taught Babangida in secondary school, was also present.
“During the course of the Iftar, the TV was switched on for the 7 pm NTA network news,” he recalled.
According to him, one of the reports showed Abiola campaigning in a northern state, speaking in Hausa and promising to improve infrastructure and Nigerians’ living conditions if elected.
He claimed Babangida reacted to the television report in Hausa, saying, “Za mu ga wanda zai bar shi ya yi ayyukan nan,” which he translated as, “Let’s see who will allow him to do such things.”
The former officer said he interpreted the remark as an indication that powerful forces were determined to prevent Abiola from implementing his campaign promises.
“I was not surprised when the election was annulled in June 1993,” he said.
He, however, acknowledged that the alleged remark did not, on its own, amount to conclusive evidence that Babangida had prior knowledge that the election would be cancelled.
“I am not implying categorically that he, IBB, may not have known beforehand that the election was going to be annulled, but the words that he uttered on the dining table during the Iftar suggest something untoward,” he added.
In his 2025 autobiography, A Journey in Service, Babangida acknowledged that Abiola won the election, polling 8,128,720 votes against Bashir Tofa’s 5,848,247 and securing the required geographical spread.
The former military ruler, however, said forces opposed to the June 12 election, allegedly led by his then Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Sani Abacha, moved against the poll while he was away in Katsina.
Babangida also cited security concerns, judicial disputes surrounding the election and resistance within the military to the return of civilian rule as factors that contributed to the crisis.
He maintained that there were fears Abiola could be assassinated by powerful military interests, a development he said could have plunged Nigeria into another civil war.
During the public presentation of the autobiography in Abuja, however, Babangida accepted overall responsibility for events under his government and described the annulment as a regrettable accident of history.
The former Guards Brigade officer rejected attempts to attribute responsibility primarily to Abacha and other senior officers.
“For IBB to later insinuate that Abacha and some other generals were responsible is arrant nonsense,” he said.
Abacha later emerged as military Head of State after the short-lived Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, following Babangida’s step-down in August 1993.
The former officer also faulted Babangida’s explanation of the execution of his childhood friend and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Maj. Gen. Mamman Vatsa.
Vatsa and several military officers were executed in March 1986 after being convicted by a special military tribunal of involvement in an alleged coup against Babangida’s government.
Babangida had said he was “shocked, devastated and deeply disappointed” by the development but maintained that his “hands were tied” by military law.
The former officer dismissed the explanation, arguing that Babangida, as President and Commander-in-Chief, had powers over convening military tribunals as well as confirming or commuting sentences.
He said, “What a nonsense talk.
“Thus, IBB was the President and Commander-in-Chief and had such powers to convene, confirm, commute, etc.”
He also referred to comments attributed to the late former Minister of Defence, Gen. Domkat Bali, concerning the relationship between Babangida and Vatsa.
According to the officer, Bali had described the relationship between the two men as one marked by rivalry and said he could not understand the level of hostility between them.
“From Gen. Bali’s statement, I deduced that the decision to execute Vatsa and the other convicted coup plotters was made by IBB,” he said.
He added that Babangida did not publicly challenge Bali’s account while the former defence minister was alive.
The former Guards Brigade officer said the June 12 crisis and Vatsa’s execution shaped his assessment of Babangida’s years in power.
“In the two instances narrated above, IBB showed that he is a coward. He does not own up to things as he blames others for things which he should take responsibility for,” he said.
He argued that a leader must ultimately accept responsibility for decisions taken under his authority, even when such decisions were reached collectively.
“There is a saying that as a leader or commander, the buck stops at your table; it doesn’t go any further,” he added.
The former officer further accused Babangida of abandoning responsibility for decisions involving his colleagues and subordinates.
The officer said, “IBB is a betrayer. Even if a decision was taken collectively, he, as the head, should take responsibility, especially if it didn’t go right.
“I consider IBB not a good officer and a gentleman.”
You published the comments of the officer without his name. Well any thing one does not know or have full knowledge of is senior to him. As a Lieutenant, I don’t think he has full knowledge of what transpired among the Senior Officers during the IBB’s Military Government and intrigues involved. That he was privileged to have gone to break fast with President IBB was not enough to have details of the thinking of Senior Military Officers and Members of Armed Forces Rulling Council. Note, one person alone cannot plan and execute coup successfully which was a serious suicide mission during the Military Government. Therefore, it is only the participants who could tell you the details of what transpired and their probably unwritten agreement that led to their success. Mind you, IBB commanded a lot of loyalty among officers and soldiers. If a fine and outstanding Nigerian Army Officer like retired Col Dangiwa Umar could say he could follow General IBB and former Military President to battle blind folded, that statement spoke volume of the person of IBB in character and in content. Therefore to me, rather than accusing General IBB and doubting his submission of what really transpired, even when he was strong actor among other actors, I thought Journalists should have embarked on investigative journalism to dig up more facts even on the comments of a junior officer, Lieutenant because he might have been the only one at the breaking of Fast with the then President IBB at the State House. This Lieutenant was talking of 1993, but there are many senior officers, who were serving in same Guards Brigade, right from Lagos Dodan Barracks, Ikeja Cantonment and in Units around Lagos, who perhaps may have followed General IBB and General Abacha and indeed other seasoned and highly intelligent Senior Military Officers of the Armed Forces and have studiously studied right from the inception of IBB Military Government, that could through more light on what the Principal Actor told Nigerians on issues at stake. Finally he who was in a hole of Nigeria State the period in question knew how deep and has given Nigerians his accounts. IBB’s account of what transpired was given freely by him. Therefore the only reasonable thing to do by anyone who feels otherwise is to embark on research work to counter his accounts. This would go a long way enlightening Nigerians and not for Lieutenant, who was privileged to break Fast with IBB as the then President, to begin to comment on the issues he had no deep knowledge of. My take anyway and just thinking aloud.
Am very happy to hear this about IBB. He is indeed an evil ginus and Maradona of Nigeria. I will keep praying for him to be born again before leaving this world. I have a feeling, he is the backbone of jihad and Bokoharam in Nigeria. May God have mercy and deliver them that are still alive iJn Amen.
One should keep his circle small. He realized his mistake after the decision was made.To be a leader in Nigeria is not like butter and bread. His mistake was made due to the negative influence from his circle. Wishing him more grace on earth, Amen and Amen.