JUST IN: You’ve reopened old wounds, Abiola’s family tackles IBB

Recently, former Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) admitted that the late Basorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola won the June 12, 1993 presidential election....Read Full Article >>➤

The June 12 election has been a heated topic with different accounts of the events narrated by different parties.

However, in his autobiography: “A Journey in Service,” which was launched in Abuja, the former President said he was convinced that Abiola won.

This is according to Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s immediate past Vice President, who reviewed the book.

“He also answers the question whether Abiola actually won the June 12 election, and I quote him, ‘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 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 12 elections,” Osinbajo said.

In a statement, Kola Abiola on behalf of the family of late MKO Abiola, said the memoir reopened painful memories of the tragic events of the annulled election.

The Abiola family insisted that the lessons from the annulled June 12 election have not been learnt.

Abiola expressed the family’s disbelief at how long it took Babangida to publicly acknowledge what the world already knew.

“It took the former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, an incredibly long 32 years to confirm what the whole world knew all along—that Bashorun MKO Abiola won the 1993 presidential election,” Kola said.

Abiola noted that the June 12 election’s significance extended beyond just his family, stressing that many other families were directly impacted by the annulment, and numerous lives were lost in its aftermath.

“There were so many other families directly affected and lives lost as a result of the annulment, not to mention the profound impact on the unity and economic development of our great country, Nigeria, to date,” he said.