1985 Coup: 'Our relationship is still good' - IBB speaks about rumored rift with Buhari

Former Nigerian Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (GCFR) says his relationship with President Buhari remains respectable despite the rumours that both men are at loggerheads.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on Arise TV Live on Friday, August 6, 2021, he said "our relationship is still good" when questioned about the nature of their friendship.

"Our relationship is still very good. I am happy we relate good but the seeming bad relationship was the creation of the media," Babangida said.

The two former military heads of state are perceived to have a sour relationship due to the events of 1985.

General Ibrahim Babangida led four Majors: Sambo Dasuki, Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, Lawan Gwadabe, and Abdulmumini Aminu to orchestrate a coup to overthrow General Buhari. At midnight on 27 August 1985, the plot metamorphosised into the arrest of the Head of State at the time.

By daybreak, the conspirators had taken over the government and Babangida flew into Lagos from Minna where he was announced as the new commander-in-chief in a radio broadcast by General Sani Abacha. Babangida justified the coup in a speech describing General Muhammadu Buhari's military regime as "too rigid"

Meanwhile, General Babangida (GCFR) revealed why Olusegun Obasanjo was selected by the country's political elites in 1998 to assume the role as the first democratically elected president of the country.

According to him, the main reason Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military leader was handpicked was because of his experience and belief in Nigeria.

Obasanjo served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 2007 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This follows the untimely demise of General Sani Abacha in 1998.

"If you see a Nigerian who believes so much in Nigeria, it is Olusegun Obasanjo. He believes so much in this country," Babangida said in an exclusive Arise TV interview.

"So it is easy for us to conclude that the person who will take over must have those core beliefs. Believes in the oneness of Nigeria and believes in the stability for the future development of the country," he said.