President Bola Tinubu and former Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), are currently engaged in a meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. This visit from Abubakar comes just 48 hours after former President Goodluck Jonathan was also at the Villa to provide updates on the situation in Mali to the President. It is noteworthy that Abubakar recently celebrated his 81st birthday.While the specific agenda of the meeting has not been made public, it appears that the former military leader, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), paid a courtesy visit. It is worth noting that a few months ago, Abubakar chaired the National Peace Committee, which facilitated the signing of a peace accord by all major candidates in the Presidential election held on February 25. The purpose of the accord was to reduce tensions during and after the elections.
Tag: Abdulsalami Abubakar
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Why I Was Never Interested in Politics After Retiring from Military – Abdulsalami
Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former head of state, has explained why he was never interested in politics after retiring from the military.
Abubakar was Nigeria’s head of state from June 9 1998 to May 29 1999, having succeeded Sani Abacha, who died in office in 1998.
The former head of state handed over power to a democratically elected president — Olusegun Obasanjo — on May 29, 1999.
He retired from the military after handing over power to Obasanjo.
Speaking on why he did not participate in politics after retirement, Abubakar, in an interview with Trust TV, said he is a “very reserved” person who does not meet some of the qualities of a politician.
“No, no! I’ve never been. Politics have never been mine. You see, there are some qualities and some characteristics that make a politician.
“Naturally I am a very reserved fellow, I don’t want any disturbance and all this trouble but others, you know they have got the flair to play politics and so I am happy and I hope even the younger generation who are retiring will also go in.
“You can see policemen, military, army officers, air force, navy and so on, are all involved in politics and the more the merrier.”
Speaking further, Abubakar said he did not play any role in the emergence of Obasanjo as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1999.
He said he discouraged Obasanjo after he was released from prison, not to accept the offer to become the presidential candidate of any political party.
“Of course, we released Obasanjo and other prisoners and pardoned them. So when Obasanjo was released, he came to see me, saying he was going to take the government to court,” he said.
“Why are you going to do that?” He said his business was crumbled by the military, his human rights have been violated, that he did not commit any coup and so forth.
“I said, sir, please let bygones be bygones. Thank God you are alive today, forget about these things. Some of the issues you mentioned, within my power I will look into that, so we left it at that.
“The next time he came to see me was to tell me that he had been approached by this group of people, they want to make him the candidate to stand for election.
“I said, Sir, if I were you, please disregard these people, Sir, go home and rest and sort your health out.
“He never got back to me. The next thing I heard was that he was one of the presidential candidates.
“I tried to tell people that I had nothing to do in bringing Obasanjo to contest the election. Whatever must have happened was within the political parties and so on.”
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Increase in petrol price will push more Nigerians into poverty – Abdulsalami
Abdulsalami Abubakar, former head of state, says an increase in the price of petrol will push more Nigerians into poverty.
Abubakar spoke at the 19th Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja, on Thursday.
Reports gathered that the federal government might increase the price of petrol to N302 per litre in February if the recommendation of the adhoc committee of the National Economic Council (NEC) was implemented.
The recommendations were put forward by the NEC ad-hoc committee interfacing with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) on the appropriate pricing of petrol in Nigeria.
Earlier in October, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, said the federal government would only cater for subsidy on petrol in the first six months of 2022 as it planned to deregulate the downstream oil and gas sector.
The announcement stirred up reactions among Nigerians, with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) threatening to embark on strike if the federal government goes ahead with the proposed plan.
Commenting on the development, Abubakar said: “The expected fuel price increment will push more Nigerians into poverty.
“Over 80 million Nigerians are still cut off by poverty. Nigeria faces a food crisis worsened by the global COVID-19 pandemic.”
On the 2023 presidential election, the former head of state said regardless of the demands for zoning and challenges, Nigerians should unite and work together.
“Note that for the first time, southern governors are taking on their northern counterparts, each demanding the presidency to their regions,” he said.
“This election year calls for statesmanship and partnership to pull Nigeria out of the woods. Let us all remember that despite all the challenges and threats, Nigeria remains one. Our unity and large population are assets and strength.”
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) 2019 Poverty & Inequality in Nigeria, 82.9 million Nigerians are living in poverty.
Also in 2021, the World Bank said an estimated 7 million Nigerians might have been pushed into poverty in 2020 owing to the high inflation rate.
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Nigeria@61: Abdulsalami Abubakar Asks Citizens To Remain Hopeful
As Nigeria marks its 61st Independence Day anniversary, former Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has said the country has attained a milestone that deserves to be celebrated.
General Abubakar asked Nigerians to remain hopeful and firm, noting that the country must remain united despite its numerous challenges.
He gave the charge while addressing journalists at his uphill top residence in Minna, Niger State.
The former Head of State also commended the security forces for the sacrifices he says they have made in the fight against insurgency, banditry and other forms of crime.
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Buhari Meets Abdulsalami Behind Closed-Doors
President Muhammadu Buhari has met with Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd).
The President on Friday received the past leader at the State House.
As at the time of filing this report, the two were still having a closed-door session.
Earlier today, the president in a separate audience met with Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mohammed Buba Marwa.
Details later…