Former military dictator Ibrahim Babangida says the victory of president-elect Bola Tinubu gives him joy, expressing confidence the former Lagos governor is a “good man for the job.”

“It’s a thing of joy that this is happening in my lifetime. I can confidently say that Tinubu is a good man for the job. I have no doubt that Tinubu would perform as the president of Nigeria,” Mr Babangida said.

The former military dictator noted that “for some of us, who have been there before, I know that there is still more work to be done, and I believe that Tinubu has what it takes to take Nigeria to the next level.” 

Mr Babangida, infamous for annulling Nigeria’s adjudged freest and fairest June 12, 1993, presidential election, said this in a statement issued by his media office on Thursday.

Prior to the February 25 presidential election, candidates from across political parties had visited Mr Babangida to seek his endorsement as they contested to be Nigeria’s president. 

In the early hours of Wednesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Mr Tinubu, the winner. He was given a certificate of return by INEC later in the day.

Mr Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, winning 12 of 36 states of Nigeria. 

Mr Abubakar came second, polling 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third, polling 6,101,533 votes.