FOLLOWING GENERAL IBRAHIM Babangida’s acknowledgement of Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), as the winner of the June 12, 1993, Election, Nigerians on social media platforms have criticised Babangida for annulling the poll.
The Election which has been described over time by many historians and researchers of politics as the fairest, most credible and freest election in the history of the country was annulled by Babangida.
The former military head of state expressed his regret thirty-two years after the incident.
In his autobiography titled, ‘A Journey In Service,’ which was launched on Thursday, February 20, Babangida described the annulment of the election as an “accident of history.”
June 12, 1993, the election won by the business tycoon and politician, Abiola, was annulled with the military regime, citing concerns over national security.
Admitting his error, Babangida said, “Although I am on record to have stated after the election that Abiola may not have won the election, upon deeper reflection and a closer examination of all the available facts, particularly the detailed election results…there was no doubt that MKO Abiola won the June 12 election.
He stressed that upon closer examination of the original collated figures from the 110,000 polling booths nationwide, it became clear that Abiola satisfied the two main constitutional requirements for winning the presidential elections, mainly majority votes and geographical spread.
That is not all, Abiola also obtained 8,128,720 votes against Tofa’s 5,848,247 votes and secured the mandatory one-third of the votes cast in 28 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
Babangida pointed out that even if Abiola had been sworn in as the president, he would have been assassinated.
“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,” he added.
He also acknowledged that mistakes, oversights, and poor judgements happened quickly during his tenure as head of the military administration and he accepted full responsibility for every choice he made.
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However, he insisted that every action was made with Nigeria’s survival as the top priority.
“As a leader of the military administration, I accept full responsibility for all decisions taken under my watch. And June 12 happened under my watch; mistakes, oversights and missteps happened in quick succession, but I say in my book, in all matters, we acted in the supreme national interest so that Nigeria could survive.
“Our nation’s march to democracy was interrupted, a fact I deeply regret. But Nigeria’s democracy is still alive, a testament to commitment,” he noted.
Netizens Knock Babangida
Aside from the fact that many Nigerian leaders had expressed their displeasure with the turnout of the election, findings by The Explainer showed that many internet users are dissatisfied with the action of the erstwhile military leader.
Reacting to the revelation, Ademola Akinlabi, a Facebook user stated that Babangida is hunted by his deeds. “The spirit of the death is hunting him, we all knew Chief MKO Abiola won it, he must come out with the fact of why annulment.”
Gbadebo Gbenga pointed out that the title of the publication by the former statesman is ironic.
“A journey of Disservice to your fatherland. You want to beat the 9-year record of Gen Yakubu Gowon and as a result, you schemed and dribbled yourself to a tight corner. Posterity shall never forgive you and your generations,” he stressed.
In reaction to Babangida’s publication, Ajibola Amzat, the African Editor of the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism in a Facebook post titled, “IBB and The Nigerian Criminal Gang” condemned the accolade showered on the former leader despite his disreputable action during his regime.
He bemoaned the negligence of accountability to the praises despite the atrocious deeds of Babangida.
According to Ajibola, “The old general said he was responsible for the cancellation of the election that reflected the wishes of the majority of Nigerians. He is also responsible for the killings of many Nigerians who protested the annulment. He is responsible for the killing of Dele Giwa, a journalist who tried to expose the underbelly of his administration. He is responsible for the killing of his childhood friend, Vatsa despite efforts made by eminent Nigerians to save him.
“He is responsible for taking IMF loans looted by his cronies and that plunged Nigerians into economic recession. He is responsible for the brain drain that led to the total collapse of the higher education system in Nigeria. The Evil Genius also claimed responsibility for the disappearance of the middle class within eight years of his inglorious administration. And what did he get in return for his criminal enterprise? Praise and prayers! They celebrated him, he added that despite his inglorious legacy billions were donated to build a legacy presidential library for him.
Although many internet users have condemned him and many have said that they would boycott reading his autobiography, Gimba Kakanda opined that reading the erstwhile military leader’s book could provide more information to reinforce dislikes and hatred.
Noting that every book provides unique and new information, he further stressed that people who engage in the book would return with more information to characterise the former head of state.
Apart from that Nigerians on X (Formerly Twitter) have taken the opportunity to vituperate Babangida for a costly mistake which in turn became the turning point of Nigeria.
Hakuna Matata @HakunaOyinz decried, “that Gen. IBB didn’t know what he had caused, that his book has open old wounds that have been partially healed after 32yrs, he’d receive all manner of backlash from Chief MKO Abiola Family and beyond.”
Maliq @MasterMaliq stated, “Babangida stands as undeniable proof that cruelty, wickedness, or moral corruption do not always lead to misery. One can embody darkness yet still bask in the finest luxuries life has to offer. The world does not always punish the villain; sometimes, it rewards him.”
Another user, Opeyemi Marcus @ArakunrinSugar mentioned that Ibrahim Babangida cancelled a free and fair election which led to the death of Moshood Abiola he became a ruthless dictator Yet today, he is being celebrated Whatever you do, don’t die defending Nigeria because years later, your oppressors might be celebrated like Babangida.
There is more, kweku Ananse @Rchardkwekuyor1 accused the ruling class in the north of not only annulling the election but of assassinating Abiola.
According to Oòșa_of Counsel @akorede_Psalms, “Abiola’s ambition got him and his wife assassinated, noble as it was. Unfortunately, some of his killers are alive today benefiting from the fruits of their crime. Questions are left unanswered. – who killed Chief MKO Abiola? – who killed Kudirat Abiola? We may never know. But someone is receiving donations and getting immortalised even after confessing to having dishonestly annulled the election that led to these crimes.”
Reacting to the massive donation that the book launch has generated, Olusegun Ifade lamented that Nigeria handsomely rewards evil perpetrators without seeking accountability and transparency from their hands.
“What a handsome reward for perpetrating a cataclysmic evil, killing perceived political enemies, abducting and jailing hundreds of human rights while few escaped his bullet, deepening socio-economy and political corruption, annulment of the most credible and fair election in 1993 and only owning up after 3 decades, today.
He added, “It pays to do evil politically against the Nigerian masses and with such rooted culture, development can’t be neither democracy and social justice can be a daily experience of the people and sometimes as a human right activist, you have to start rethinking if those sacrifices at one point in time, truly worth it.”
