Leadnaija
Former Head of State, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) finally acknowledged Moshood Abiola’s victory in the presidential election held on June 12, 1993....Don’t Miss Out! CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING..>>
This revelation was made at the launch of his autobiography, A Journey in Service, in Abuja on Thursday.
The June 12 election, widely regarded as the fairest in Nigeria’s history, was annulled by Babangida, leading to chaos, unrest, and the eventual rise of Sani Abacha as military head of state.
In the 420-page book, IBB dedicated a section to the transition from military rule to democracy and the June 12 saga.
During the book review, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo read a passage shedding light on the events surrounding the election and its annulment.
He quoted IBB as saying that although he had previously questioned Abiola’s electoral victory, deeper reflection led him to concede that Abiola was indeed the rightful winner.
“Although I’m on record to have admitted after the election that Abiola may not have won, upon deeper reflection and a close examination of all available facts—particularly the detailed election results, which I have published as an appendix to this book,” Osinbajo read.
“There was no doubt that MKO Abiola won the June 12 election. Upon closer examination of the original collated figures from the 110 polling booths across the country, it was clear that he satisfied the two main constitutional requirements for winning the presidential election: the majority vote and the geographical spread. He obtained 8,128,720 votes against Tofa’s 5,844,247 and secured the mandatory one-third of the votes cast in 28 states of the federation, including Abuja.”
IBB added that he was pleased when “the Buhari administration finally recognized Abiola as a former head of state of Nigeria.”
“Looking back now, the June 12 saga was undoubtedly the most challenging moment of my life and, in certain respects, one of the most painful. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it differently,” he added.
