General Domkat Bali, the Defence Minister when General Ibrahim Banangida, was Military President died on Friday, 4 December at the age of 80.
Apart from the death of General Maman Vatsa, another major issue that registered his name in people’s consciousness was his resignation from the Babangida’s cabinet.
Below is his explanation:
“To be very frank with you, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is a very important ministry, but that was not my problem. My problem was that as a military officer, I was senior both to Babangida and Buhari, but I served under both as Minister of Defence and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. I could accept that they were heads of state.
“You cannot remove the fact that I was a senior to both of them. And when Babangida came, he said, ‘ok, you are no longer Chief of Defence Staff, but Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.’
“If I am not that, then I am also junior to all other military people other than the Head of State, which I would not accept.”
General Domkat Bali. Read the full interview in TheNEWS.