2023:  Saraki, Others Meets Babangida 

A former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, has called on presidential aspirants in the coming general elections to put Nigeria above other interests in everything they do.

Babangida stated this Thursday that while receiving former Senate President Bukola Saraki, Bauchi State governor Bala Mohammed and Sokoto State governor Aminu Tambwal during a courtesy visit at his Hilltop residence in Minna, Niger State. 

“Your belief in having a better Nigeria featured very prominently. You made my day. What you talked about is Nigeria, Nigeria, Nigeria. I want you to keep it up for the benefit of this country and generations yet unborn,” Babangida said in reaction to the comments from Mr Saraki, who led the three-man delegation.

“I want you to keep it up for the benefit of this country and generations yet unborn. What you are doing is good. This is how the country should develop.”

He promised to support the group “so long as you stay on the course of promoting Nigeria all the time, making it a secure country”.

Meanwhile, the former of Kwara State had been in Minna “as part of our consultations; going round the country talking to our elders and stakeholders”.

Saraki, who spoke to newsmen after the visit, said the team needed to visit the former military president to brief him about their efforts to get a consensus presidential candidate who will face the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the coming election.

“We took him through what we are doing. This is part of what we call solution providing. We are trying to provide a solution to the political process because we want to ensure that it is smooth, it is not rancorous, and it leads to a better Nigeria at the end of the day,” he said.

He said it was out of their “desire to make a better Nigeria that those of us who are aspiring to be president came together that we must find a way of having a consensus so that we can reduce the number and ensure that we have a candidate who is competent who has the support of everybody”.

Saraki added that Nigerians have been through hell, especially in the last few days. He commiserated with those who lost their loved ones and those whose relations were injured or missing in the recent Abuja- Kaduna train attack.