"President Muhammad Buhari has not just honoured the June 12 heroes but he has successfully poured a drum of water on the waging fire of June 12 by letting it ghost to rest in perfect peace." Apostle Asimiyu Muhideen Abiodun
Yesterday , having watched Kola Abiola and Hafsat Abiola addressing Million Nigerians on NTA News regarding the annulment of the said most free and fair election in the history of Nigeria , June 12, 1993 General Election , l broke into tears...
Not because l was hearing the tale of the event that transpired on June 12 for the first time , but the living eyewitnesses who also shared their bundle of experiences as Journalists , politicians and Civil Society groups..
They all narrated the political disorders that accompanied June 12 General Election , and the sacrifices made towards a fight for Abiola' Justice. Many lives were lost..Many were injured.. Many properties were bastardized... All they were wanted was Abiola's mandate ...
In his words , the Former Senate president , Iyorchia Ayu revealed how his honourable colleagues became tenants at Alagbon Police Station... And how they were resolute/ personate about their decision to send away men in uniform , and restore democracy as the only weapon to strike a balance between the rich and the poor...
While receiving the National award (GCFR,) on behalf of Abiola' family , the duo (Kola Abiola and Hafsat ) thanked the million Nigerians for the trust entrusted in their father in 1993 General Election.They also argued that the NATIONAL AWARD is not meant for Abiola's family alone neither his running mate ,but those who stood for Abiola' s mandate on June 12 ,1993
For the record , after a successful and historic palace coup of August 1985, Babangida reigned over the country like a colossus. He had captivated many Nigerians with his charisma, particularly his toothy smile and could have gotten away with many of his perceived atrocities against the people, if he had not committed the ultimate blunder of annulling the June 12 presidential election.
During the eight years he served as Nigeria’s military president, IBB nearly succeeded in entrenching democracy in the nation’s polity but for a hiccup along the way. His regime sunk billions of naira into nurturing two political parties during his lengthy transition to civil rule programme. But, he truncated that transition midway, when results trickling in from the June 12, 1993 presidential election suggested that the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola had won the contest.
The election is widely regarded as a watershed in the country’s political history, because for the first time, Nigerians defied the culture of docility to vote for the exit of the military from power in a telling manner. In that election, Nigerians chose the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the late MKO Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe who contested on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Abiola not only defeated the candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), Bashir Tofa, in his home state of Kano, he also defeated him comfortably with 58.4 per cent of the popular vote and a majority in 20 out of the then 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
That election was adjudged to be free and fair, and peaceful. But, the Babangida-led military government, which had been playing games with the transition, chose not to announce the final results. Subsequently, on June 23, the election was annulled.
Observers see the annulment as a coup against the Nigerian people and an act of brazen injustice. Many of those who played key roles at the time, including the chief electoral umpire, Humphrey Nwosu, have since confessed that “their hands were tied” and that indeed MKO Abiola won the election.
Since he was compelled to step down unceremoniously, Babangida has not been able to come up with a coherent explanation of what happened.
Twenty-four years after, he has not been able to say precisely why he annulled the election? In his trademark maradonic style, he has been deliberately giving vague or misleading answers. In his June 23, 1993 broadcast, when he officially annulled the election, he said, among other things, that he took the decision as a favour to Abiola, because the latter would have been killed, if he was allowed to take office.
May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.
