Finally, IBB Agrees MKO Abiola Won June 12 Presidential Election

Finally, IBB Agrees MKO Abiola Won June 12 Presidential Election

…Says Abacha Orchestrated Events That Led To Annulment

…Announcement Was Made Without My Authority

…Former Military President Takes Full Responsibility

…You Missed Opportunity To Make History In 1993, Tinubu Tells IBB

…Admitting Abiola Won June 12 Election Is Courageous Of IBB

ABUJA – Perhaps to set the records straight, former military President, Gen­eral Ibrahim Babangida, has revealed that the annulled presi­dential election of 1993 was won by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

He said events that culminated in the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election was orchestrated by forces within his administration, including the late General Sani Abacha, his Chief of Army Staff and later Minister of Defence.

In his newly launched autobi­ography, ‘A Journey in Service’, he recounted how he was blindsided by the announcement that nulli­fied it.

He wrote in the book: “Although I am on record to have stated after the elections that Abiola may not have won the elections, upon deeper reflection and a closer ex­amination of all the available facts, particularly the detailed election results, which are published as an appendix to this volume, there was no doubt that MKO Abiola won the June 12 elections.

“Upon closer examination of the original collated figures from the 110,000 polling booths nationwide, it was clear that he satisfied the two main constitu­tional requirements for winning the presidential elections, mainly majority votes and geographical spread, having obtained 8,128,720 votes against Tofa’s 5,848,247 votes and securing the mandatory one-third of the votes cast in 28 states of the federation, including Abu­ja.

“Unfortunately, the forces gath­ered against him after the June 12 elections were so formidable that I was convinced that if he became president, he would be quickly eliminated by the same very forc­es who pretended to be his friends.

“While I accept that the un­fortunate denial of his mandate amounted to a subversion of the will of the Nigerian people, I was petrified that if Abiola got killed, it could lead to a civil war.

“Having participated in one civil war, with all its horrors, pains and devastation, I wasn’t prepared to see another.

“I am gratified that the Buhari administration finally recognised MKO Abiola as a ‘former head of state’”.

He described the annulment as a shocking and regrettable mo­ment in Nigeria’s history.

He revealed that the annulment of the election also nearly cost him his life.

According to Babangida, on the morning of June 23, 1993, he had traveled from Abuja to Katsi­na to condole with the Yar’Adua family following the death of their patriarch, Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua. While there, he received an alarm­ing report that the June 12 election had been annulled.

“Even more bizarre was the extent of the annulment because it terminated all court proceedings regarding the June 12 elections, re­pealed all the decrees governing the transition, and even suspended NEC (National Electoral Commis­sion)!” he wrote.

Babangida said he was par­ticularly disturbed by the uncer­emonious manner in which the announcement was made.

“Admiral Aikhomu’s press sec­retary, Nduka Irabor, had read out a terse, poorly worded statement from a scrap of paper, which bore neither the presidential seal nor the official letterhead of the government, annulling the June 12 presidential elections. I was alarmed and horrified,” he stated.

Prior to the announcement, Babangida admitted that various options were being considered fol­lowing the deadlock in announc­ing the election results, including the possibility of fresh elections.

However, he insisted that out­right annulment was only one of several possibilities.

“But to suddenly have an an­nouncement made without my au­thority was, to put it mildly, alarm­ing. I remember saying: ‘These nefarious inside forces opposed to the elections have outflanked me!’”

It was only later, he disclosed, that he realised the annulment was carried out by powerful elements within his administration, led by Abacha who was his minister of defence.

“There and then, I knew I was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea!” he wrote.

Babangida acknowledged that the election, which was widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest, took a “painful twist” from that moment, and he ultimately bore the responsibility for what transpired.

“As I will show later, I regretta­bly take responsibility,” he added.

The annulment of the June 12 election set off a political crisis that plunged Nigeria into years of instability.

The fallout led to protests, inter­national condemnation, and Aba­cha’s eventual seizure of power in a palace coup in 1993 after Babangi­da was forced to step aside.

Despite his admission of being “outflanked,” Babangida reiterat­ed that he accepted responsibility as the head of the administration, calling it one of the most regretta­ble moments in Nigeria’s history.

Narrating the theories that emerged over the annulment, Babangida wrote: “Tensions in the country were compounded by baseless conspiracy theories meant to justify the annulment. One such theory was that Abiola had penciled down a list of top mil­itary officers to be dismissed upon assuming office as president.

“Another conspiracy theory was that the government had let the June 12 elections go ahead in the knowledge, based on security reports, that Tofa would win. How­ever, once Abiola won, the govern­ment sought a way to frustrate his mandate.

“These were spurious theories circulated by those opposed to an Abiola presidency. Some persons indeed expressed their reserva­tions about an Abiola presidency before the elections.

“There were times when, deep down inside me, even I feared that Abiola might not be an effective president. However, having al­lowed the process to go ahead in which Abiola appeared to have emerged victorious in an election deemed the freest and fairest in our country’s history, I was committed to ensuring that the results should stand. To do otherwise would amount to a subversion of the will of the Nigerian people.

“But I also knew we were deal­ing with a delicate situation that could lead to national disintegra­tion. The military was faction­alised into rival groups between those opposed to the transition to civil rule, particularly an Abiola presidency, and those who thought the military should keep its word and hand over to a democratically elected government.

“The military was awash with rumours of plots by those who wanted to depose me to have Abi­ola installed and those who wanted to take me out violently to ensure that the annulment stayed.

“There were rumours of a third group, made up of sworn and implacable enemies of Abiola, a hard-line faction, who threatened that Abiola could only be president over their dead bodies! And if it meant taking me out violently to effect their threat, they were will­ing to do so.

“It was painful for me to discov­er later that apart from Abacha, some of my closest colleagues, par­ticularly a Lt-General, were knee-deep in the plot to eliminate me.

“The only reason those dispa­rate forces did not strike against me was that it was feared, and rightly so, that since I still enjoyed the support of a sizable proportion of the armed forces, any attack on the government or my person would lead to a bloodbath.

“The polarisation within the military was so fraught with danger that the best I could do in the circumstance was to project a united front as government in the face of the stiff opposition I faced as president.

“Although the annulment took all by surprise, as command­er-in-chief, I took responsibility for it. In my speech on June 26, tepid and disingenuous as it may seem, I attempted to justify the annulment in the face of supposed nationwide widespread electoral malpractices’ during the elections! What mat­tered at the time to me as president and commander-in-chief was the unity of the army and my convic­tion that if the army was united, it could safeguard the country from disintegration.

“After several brainstorming sessions with various groups, I contacted M.K.O Abiola to find a way forward. At one of my sever­al meetings with Abiola, arranged this time by some traditional lead­ers, I offered Abiola an interim position pending when we could resolve the situation.

“Not surprisingly, Abiola turned down my offer. How could anyone blame him? Since he was convinced that he had won the elections that the annulment had denied him, it seemed overtly in­appropriate to accept an interim arrangement.

“For him, it was a matter of once bitten, twice shy! At another meeting, this time a more private meeting of both families, I articu­lated that our lives were in danger of being snuffed out by lurking forces that wished both of us ill.

“Unfortunately, Abiola turned his back on any form of rapproche­ment with me and embraced the gimmicks of deceitful ‘friends’ who hid their real intentions from him.

“I read somewhere, I believe, in one of Abiola’s newspapers that Abiola thought that the moment these ‘friends’ overthrew me, the elections would be de-annulled and that he would be installed as president by his coup plotting friends. As it turned out, Abiola was advised by these same ‘friends’ to leave the country to avoid death threats from fictitious military el­ements. Abiola’s departure paved the way for his ‘friends’ to consoli­date their conspiratorial positions, eventually leading to another mili­tary takeover.

“Without question, one of my biggest headaches at this time was Sani Abacha. I knew that Abacha was ambivalent about a return to civil rule. But I thought, in retrospect now, naively, that he would support our transition to civil rule programme. As I said earlier, Abacha and I had come a long way.

“We were good friends, and he had indeed been nice to me. As I have said elsewhere, he saved my life once and also risked his life to ensure that I took over in 1985. I could never forget those details.

“But it’s also correct that he was a complex character. He was capable of bottling up a lot inside without giving a hint of where he was. And then, suddenly, the bottle bursts, and we begin to see a differ­ent person. I obviously didn’t know everything about him!

“For instance, I was alarmed to discover that he and a handful of others mobilised negative opinions against me within the military, por­traying me as the problem. That campaign was geared towards a violent military coup to remove me as president forcefully.”

Speaking at the book launch in Abuja on Thursday, Babangida re­flected on his tenure, acknowledg­ing the controversies surrounding his administration’s decisions.

“I have had to contend with this question all the time – when will you tell your side of the story?

“Understandably, our period of service has evoked many ques­tions and stories among the public. This book, which chronicles my experiences, decisions, and chal­lenges, tries to answer some of these questions from my modest perspective,” he said.

Babangida highlighted the sig­nificant reforms and challenges his government faced, particular­ly in economic management, for­eign policy, defence, and national security.

He noted that while Nigerians endured sacrifices under his lead­ership, his administration was driven by a commitment to leaving the country in a better state.

Acknowledging the historical weight of the June 12 election – widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest at the time – Babangi­da expressed deep regret that his government, despite designing an electoral system that ensured a credible process, ultimately failed to see it through.

“Undoubtedly, credible, free, and fair elections were held on June 12, 1993. However, the tragic irony remains that the adminis­tration that devised a near-perfect electoral system and conducted those elections could not complete the process. That accident of histo­ry is most regrettable. The nation is entitled to expect my expression of regret,” he stated.

Babangida did not shy away from accountability, taking full ownership of the decision to annul the election.

“As the leader of the military administration, I accept full re­sponsibility for all decisions taken under my watch, and June 12 hap­pened under my watch. Mistakes, oversight, and missteps happened in quick succession, but as I state in my book, in all matters, we acted in the supreme national interest so that Nigeria could survive,” he said.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s demo­cratic journey, Babangida admit­ted that his administration’s ac­tions disrupted the transition to civilian rule but emphasised that the country ultimately overcame the setback.

“Our nation’s march to democ­racy was interrupted, a fact that I deeply regret. But Nigeria sur­vived, and democracy is still alive – a testament to our resilience and commitment to progress,” he said.

You Missed Opportunity To Make History In 1993, Tinubu Tells IBB

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, went down memory lane during the book launch of former military Presi­dent, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, re­minding him of events that played out over delays in inaugurating elected officials in 1993.

Tinubu recounted how he had directly questioned the former head of state about his decision to postpone the swearing-in of new­ly elected lawmakers, including himself.

Tinubu was elected to the Sen­ate in 1992 to represent Lagos West, during Babangida’s rule from 1985 to 1993.

The president recalled how the military government kept postpon­ing their inauguration, despite ac­knowledging that they had won their seats.

Tinubu described how he and other elected officials were summoned to Abuja, where they expected to be officially sworn in.

However, instead of an inaugu­ration, they were met with further delays.

Tinubu recounted, “One thing I will never forget: you were in of­fice, and you acknowledged that we were elected, yet you kept postpon­ing our inauguration.

“Then you summoned us to Abuja. When we became restless, you called us to the International Conference Centre. I sat there, listening in my radical manner, convinced that you wouldn’t inau­gurate us yet again.

“Before we even returned to the hotel, it was locked—and no key!

“Later, when Dele Cole invited me to make a remark, I confronted you. I told you that you had the op­portunity to make history that day, but you failed to seize it. I asked, ‘Why not inaugurate us? Why are you calling us back and postponing it again?’

“They thought I would end up in jail. But at the end of my re­marks, you came forward, shook my hand, and I will never forget that moment.”

Meanwhile, Tinubu also praised Babangida’s contributions to nation-building and credited the former military leader with inspir­ing his political journey.

“General Ibrahim Baban­gida, without you, people like me wouldn’t be in politics. You inspired some of us,” President Tinubu stated.

He continued, “Your progres­sive revolution — you said you wanted young, brilliant people in politics — back then in Dodan Barracks. You inspired some of us. And when we look at the pro­grammes, many of us gathered here today for this library project can see the vision of a leader.

“Thank you for who you are. As for the book, I haven’t read it yet, but I have taken my copy, and I will read it.

“Without you, people like me wouldn’t be in politics. Your pro­gressive revolution, your insis­tence on bringing young, brilliant minds into politics — you inspired us.”

Tinubu also described Babangi­da as courageous and patriotic for admitting that late M.K.O. Abiola won the June 12 election in 1993.

According to Tinubu, Baban­gida’s admission about Abiola’s victory will help to set the records properly.

“I am glad about the revelation of June 12. My General, we will not forget to pray for you. I listened to you carefully. I am not here to read a speech. I am here to pay homage.