The Presidency has strongly dismissed current claims by former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, alleging that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu supported the annulment of the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election.
In an in depth assertion titled “Setting the Document Straight: President Tinubu’s Position within the June 12 Wrestle,” the Presidency described Lamido’s remarks as a “distortion of historical past” and a “regrettable try at revisionism.”
Talking on reside tv, Lamido had accused Tinubu of solely rising as a pro-democracy determine after the formation of NADECO and went additional to say that Tinubu’s late mom, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mobilised market girls to help the annulment—a declare the Presidency says is “patently false.”
“Had she [Mogaji] executed so,” the assertion learn, “she would have misplaced her place as market chief in Lagos.”
The assertion went on to position duty for the betrayal of MKO Abiola’s mandate on the management of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), of which Lamido was nationwide secretary on the time.
“To their everlasting disgrace,” the assertion famous, “Lamido and [SDP Chairman] Tony Anenih teamed up with the defeated Nationwide Republican Conference to disclaim Abiola his mandate.”
In distinction, the Presidency highlighted Tinubu’s unflinching resistance to the annulment, referencing his fiery Senate speech on August 19, 1993, the place he labelled the annulment a coup d’état and known as on Nigerians to reject injustice.
“Now we have a scenario that implies that the abortion of the June 12 election is one other coup d’état,” then-Senator Tinubu stated throughout the flooring debate. “This can be a self-inflicted disaster… the current navy administration… has dedicated a criminal offense.”
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The assertion added that Tinubu, even after Common Sani Abacha’s takeover on November 17, 1993, continued to withstand navy rule. He was a part of a bunch of senators who defied the junta, reconvened in Lagos, and had been arrested and detained at Alagbon.
“Whereas in detention, Tinubu continued to fund pro-June 12 protests, together with the blockade of the Third Mainland Bridge,” it famous.
The Presidency additionally reminded Nigerians that Tinubu was one of many few political figures who adopted Abiola into confrontation with the Abacha regime, lengthy earlier than it turned obvious that Abacha would betray the promise to revive Abiola’s mandate.
“The reality is evident,” the assertion concluded. “President Tinubu stood agency when many selected silence or compromise. His function within the June 12 battle is etched in historical past and backed by documented info.”
The rebuttal comes amid a wave of renewed discourse round Nigeria’s democratic historical past because the nation lately marked Democracy Day on June 12, a date now put aside in honour of MKO Abiola and the pro-democracy motion that adopted the annulment of his election.
