13th January, 2024
By Paul Dada
Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida says Nigerians will not accept a one-party system.
He, however, said the two-party system was the best for Nigeria.
The former military president said this on Friday as a guest on Channels TV’s Inside Sources with Laolu Akande. Babaginda ruled Nigeria between 1985 and 1993.
“I have been in a military regime, and the Nigerians I know won’t allow a one-party state. I have been a military man, and I know dictatorship is not good and can’t be good in a civil society.
“Nigerians who I know won’t allow a one-party system and will talk you out of it until you get tired,” he said.
On the two-party system, IBB said, “Immediately after independence, Nigeria tended to gravitate towards a two-party system. The number of parties formed a coalition to gain power. It happened in the first and second republics. It showed up again in the third republic and the current republic.
“At the time, we believed Nigerians were capable of a two-party system because it saves you a lot of ‘wahala’ and no rancour. You can choose from A or B.”