Gen. Ibrahim Babangida told lawmakers Tuesday that he has offered to resign as president and army commander-in-chief, but the mercurial ruler cryptically refused to say whether he actually would step down.
He said he made his resignation offer to his top officers, whose ultimate decision likely will be based on what Babangida wants to do."Following lengthy deliberations with my service chiefs, I offered as my own personal sacrifice to voluntarily step aside as president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria," he told a special joint session of both houses of the National Assembly.
But he did not say if his officers made a decision or when it would be made. Babangida sought to frame the crisis that he triggered as a triumphant test of national unity.
"We have put in our best, we have had sleepless nights. There have been periods of joy, sadness and frustration," he said. "In all these our countrymen have showed understanding."
Babangida's military coterie is divided on whether Babangida should resign as head of the army and name himself civilian president, or choose a figurehead civilian to run his interim government.
Nigeria has been politically paralyzed since Babangida, who has ruled since 1985, voided the June 12 presidential election that was to return the nation to civilian government.
Babangida since has said Nigeria will be ruled by an interim government made up of civilians and soldiers but has not said whether he will step down on Aug. 27, his long-promised deadline for democracy.
Babangida told lawmakers he would announce the composition of the new government "in the next few days."
His brief remarks were followed by debate by lawmakers, who were not asked to accept or reject his resignation offer.
The speech was typical Babangida: ambiguous, short on details and replete with promises that the situation soon would be clarified.
The political crisis has heightened regional, religious and ethnic tensions in this nation of 90 million people, triggering three days of riots that killed more than 100 people in Lagos last month and a general strike last week that shut down the city for three days.
Thousands of people have fled to their ethnic homelands in anticipation of civil unrest.
Babangida has repeatedly reneged on promises to return the nation to democracy.