Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, is not leaving anything to chance in his aspiration to be President in 2011, as he deploys strategists into conducting surveys to test his popularity.
The former Nigerian leader has also been moving from state to state, holding dialogue with political stakeholders on how to improve his chances in each state of the federation ahead of the next general election.
Babangida is said to have secured the backing of some state governors, mostly from the south-south part of the country and the north essentially, although the agreements he has reached with the governors are being kept under wraps.
IBB, as he is generally referred to in political circles, has of late, been banking on the goodwill enjoyed by his late wife, Maryam, to make strong in-roads into the hearts of women in the country, as many of his core-supporters across the country have been dragging him to attend special memorial programmes for the late first lady, and which had been used as political exploits for the General.
Babangida’s strategists have, however, made the National Assembly their main target in their drive to test the popularity of the former military president.
Indications to this effect emerged last Thursday with a Bill, “National Center for Women Development Act Amendment Bill proposed in honour of late Maryam Babangida, and which if eventually passed, will make the Federal Government name the National Women Development Center Abuja, after the late First Lady.
The amendment bill, sponsored by Honourable Fatimat Raji Rasaki, Deputy House Committee Chairman on Women Affairs, enjoyed overwhelming support from members with only a negligible opposition.