Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has provided fresh details on the circumstances surrounding the death of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, naming several Nigerian and foreign officials involved in the events leading up to the June 12 winner’s sudden death on July 7, 1998.
In excerpts from his autobiography due for public presentation in Abuja on Saturday, Abdulsalami said a United States delegation led by Thomas Pickering, then U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, visited the country shortly after the death of former military ruler, General Sani Abacha.
The delegation also included Susan Rice, then U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. According to Abdulsalami, the Americans complained that they had been denied access to Abiola despite the meeting being a major reason for their visit.
The former military ruler said he immediately instructed his Chief Security Officer, Abdulrasheed Aliyu, to arrange the meeting between the delegation and Abiola.
He recalled that Aliyu later called him in distress to report that Abiola had suddenly become restless, started coughing and sweating during the meeting and was subsequently rushed to the State House Clinic, where he died.
Abdulsalami said the development came as a shock and threatened efforts to stabilise the country following Abacha’s death.
He immediately informed Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, his second-in-command, and Alhaji Gidado Idris, then Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The former head of state said he also contacted Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, Abiola’s running mate in the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, and requested that he accompany members of the Abiola family to his residence.
According to Abdulsalami, one of Abiola’s daughters broke down uncontrollably when informed of her father’s death, while Susan Rice helped console the grieving family.
Responding to long-standing claims that Abiola was poisoned, Abdulsalami said he never accepted the theory and instead relied on the findings of an international autopsy panel constituted at the request of the family.
The autopsy involved the full participation of Dr. Ore Falomo, Abiola’s personal physician.
Representing the Nigerian Medical Association were Dr. George Okpagu, Dr. Boniface Oye-Adeniran and Dr. M.C. Izegbu.
The Federal Government’s pathologists were Prof. Edward Attah of the University of Calabar and Dr. Abdulmumini Rafindadi of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria.
The findings were announced publicly on July 11, 1998 by Dr. James G. Young, then Chief Coroner of Ontario, Canada.
According to Young, the autopsy revealed that Abiola suffered from severe long-standing heart disease, including extensive narrowing of the coronary arteries caused by fatty plaques and significant enlargement of the heart due to prolonged hypertension.
Young stated that either condition could have resulted in sudden death and that toxicological analysis found no evidence of poisoning.
Another member of the autopsy team, American pathologist Dr. John Pless, said the heart condition that caused Abiola’s death had likely existed for between 10 and 14 years.
Although Dr. Ore Falomo later questioned whether Abiola’s four years in detention may have worsened his health and raised concerns about pain medication reportedly taken by the politician, he confirmed that he fully participated in the autopsy process and observed every stage of the examination.
Abdulsalami said he was satisfied with the outcome of the investigation and rejected suggestions that unnamed officials within his administration may have secretly plotted Abiola’s death without his knowledge.
He also criticised what he described as conspiracy theories promoted after he left office, including allegations raised before the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, popularly known as the Oputa Panel, established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and chaired by the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.
While not mentioning him directly in the book, Abdulsalami’s account comes against the backdrop of claims made before the panel by Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha, who alleged that he possessed video evidence showing that Abiola was poisoned.
Al-Mustapha has yet to make any such footage public.
Abiola’s death, coming exactly one month after the sudden death of General Sani Abacha, remains one of the most controversial episodes in Nigeria’s political history. However, Abdulsalami maintains that the combined findings of Nigerian, American, British and Canadian medical experts conclusively showed that the June 12 winner died of natural causes linked to long-standing cardiovascular disease.