The former military President General Ibrahim Babangida has admitted that the late Chief Moshood Abiola (now deceased) won the June 12, 1993, presidential election.
Babangida’s confirmation came 32 years after Abiola died on the day it was suspected that he was due to be released from prison-for attempting to claim victory after the election.
This shocking revelation, as disclosed in Babangida’s autobiography, reveals that the former military head regrets the annulment, which he considers the most challenging period of his life
In his newly launched book, ‘A Journey in Service’, which debuted in Abuja on Thursday, the former leader reveals that the late Abiola met all the requirements to claim victory, but was ultimately denied it.
This ceremony was attended by past and present Nigerian leaders including President Bola Tinubu; ex-president Goodluck; former Head of State Yakubu Gowon; Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo; among others.
Giving more insights about the book, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while reviewing it, stated that Abiola, who ran on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform, secured both the majority vote and the required geographical spread to become president.
“Upon deeper reflection and a closer examination of all available facts, particularly the detailed election results, which are published as an appendix to this book, there was no doubt that MKO Abiola won the June 12th elections,” Osinbajo quoted Babangida as writing.
“Upon closer examination of the original collated figures, it was clear that he satisfied the two main constitutional requirements for winning the presidential elections, namely 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, I am gratified that the Buhari administration finally recognized him as a former head of state of Nigeria.”
“Looking back now, the June 12th saga was undeniably the most challenging moment of my life, and in certain respects, one of the most painful. And if I had to do it all over again, I would do it differently,” he said.