A former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, on Friday reportedly declared his support for a Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, for a presidential run in 2019.
Atiku had visited Babangida but, the meeting held behind closed doors.
Babangida, Nigeria’s leader from 1985-1993, said media reports that he advised Atiku not to run for election during a closed-door meeting Thursday was ‘laughable’ because it was ‘sponsored’.
“Anybody who has sponsored such report was just being unfair” to Babangida and Abubakar, a spokesperson for the former military leader, Kassim Afegbua, said according to Premium Times.
Afegbua said no one knew the outcome of the meeting because it was held behind closed-doors amongst the two leaders.
Media reports of the meeting said Abubakar left angrily because his host advised not to run against President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The report is very, very untrue,” Afegbua said. “When I read the report, I was laughing. Because it is far from what they both discussed.”
“Number one, IBB will not discourage anyone from seeking office. IBB will encourage anyone to seek election,” the spokesperson added.
Afegbua said the relationship between his principal and his host remains cordial, warning reporters to stop playing politics with people’s relationship.
“They had a very useful political discussion. IBB also has a good relationship with Atiku. It’s not good to play politics with the relationship of people.”
