Former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, has distanced himself from a post on a parody social media account endorsing military rule over democratic governance.
The parody account, @General_Ibbro on X (formerly Twitter), falsely attributed comments to General Babangida, suggesting he preferred military rule to democracy.
But in a statement signed by Mahmoud Abdullahi for IBB Media Office, Babangida emphasised his commitment to Nigeria’s democratic process.
Our attention has been drawn to a post on a parody account on X, formerly known as Twitter, which carries the handle, @General_Ibbro, in which former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, GCFR, was supposed to have endorsed the virtues of military rule over democratic governance,” the statement read.
“This dubious account carries our principal’s picture and name and the coat of arms of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for added effect but it does not belong to him nor does the former President sanction any post appearing there.
“In the past and more famously during the presidential elections last year, it posted a blatant falsehood that the former President had endorsed a particular presidential candidate and his party, thereby causing public confusion and some embarrassment to the elder statesman.
“We have just learnt that it has posted a similarly fake statement where the former President was supposed to have said that Nigeria has the best years under the military, democracy made things worse.
“We want to state unequivocally that neither the Twitter or X account which is essentially a parody or pretend account, nor the statement made therein ever belonged to the retired General.
“For the avoidance of doubt, General Babangida (rtd) believes that Nigeria’s democracy is resilient and has come to stay and that we must do everything we can to safeguard the process.
“As a nation, we are currently facing a number of challenges but the former president has always expressed the view that we will eventually overcome these challenges and come out a stronger, more progressive nation. The solution to our problems as he had said previously, is ‘more’ democracy, not less.”
He expressed frustration over their inability to get the parody account removed or sanctioned and warned the public to disregard any posts from the account claiming to represent General Babangida’s opinions.