President Goodluck Jonathan plots Mohammed Babangida as next Niger State Governor to pacify IBB

fear grips Gov Babangida Aliyu

Feelers reaching us from the presidency revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan has perfected plans to install Muhammed Babangida as the next governor of Niger State as part of his political permutation to pacify his father, the former military president, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s new game plan in Niger State politics, according to an insider, is a political strategy to strengthen his chances in his second term bid in the 2015 presidential election.

A very dependable source within the Niger State political circuit exclusively revealed to First Weekly that the move is a plan laid down several years back and that it is known to some political leaders in the state.

Sources said that the game plan is that as the incumbent Governor Aliyu Babangida completes his second term in office in 2015, Muhammed Babangida will mount the saddle of leadership of the state.

And IBB, according to sources, has swung into action and deplored all the machinery in his power to ensure his son succeeds at the polls.

Information reaching us from the Government House in Minna, the Niger State capital indicates that the project could be difficult as Governor Babangida Aliyu is also making underground moves to install a trusted and tested successor among his political sons in the state as governor in 2015.

Our investigations revealed that part of the reasons Governor Babaginda Aliyu settled for a trusted aide instead of his cousin and political godson, Muhammed Babangida, is his plan to cover his alleged mismanagement of funds in the state that could strain his presidential ambition in the 2015 general elections.

It will be recalled that there is a silent feud between Governor Aliyu Babangida and President Goodluck Jonathan over his ambition to occupy Aso Rock as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015.

But Governor Aliyu, who is one of the PDP governors that kicked against President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid, is yet to announce the political party through which he plans to fulfill his presidential ambition.

Meanwhile in readiness for the 2015 gubernatorial election in Niger State, Muhammed Babangida, with the support of his father, IBB has reportedly declared his ambition on May 3, 2013 to get his people prepared for the tasks ahead.

The epoch making ceremony, which took place in Minna was attended by people from all walks of life in the state.

The declaration ceremony, according close sources, indicated that Babaginda has already garnered a meaningful followership in the state that could help him actualize his dream. Observers in Niger State however added that sky will be the limit for Muhammed Babangida in his bid to rule Niger State in 2015.

-Funsho Akinwale.