June 12: Rift Between Tinubu, Lamido Deepens

• Presidency openly accuses Lamido of spreading falsehood

By PHC Telegraph

The  Presidency has swiftly reacted to jabs from a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido which claim that Bola Tinubu was a secret opponent of the June 12 struggle.

Lamido, a member of the coalition who has been out of the public spotlight for a long time is accusing Nigeria’s leader, President Tinubu and his mother of working against the realisation of the mandate of Chief M.K.O Abiola.

A statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, a senior presidential aide said, “The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to recent comments made by Alhaji Sule Lamido, former Governor of Jigawa State, on live television, in which he falsely accused President Bola Tinubu of supporting the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

“Alhaji Lamido’s claims represent a distortion of history and a regrettable attempt at revisionism.”

The former Jigawa Governor suggested in his scathing attack that Tinubu was possibly nobody before the formation of NADECO.

“He alleged that President Tinubu only rose to prominence after the formation of NADECO and claimed that Tinubu’s mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mobilised market women to back the annulment. These allegations are patently false”, the statement disclosed.

“Let us set the record straight: Alhaja Mogaji never mobilised market women to support the unjust annulment. Had she done so, she would have lost her position as market leader in Lagos. While she once had a personal relationship with then-President Babangida, this was before the annulment crisis”, the Presidency further clarified.

The statement however hinted that Lamido who was the secretary of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, was rather complicit in the events leading to the annulment of the June 12 election.

“It is important to remind Nigerians that Alhaji Lamido, as secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)—the party whose candidate, MKO Abiola, won the June 12 election—was among those who failed to oppose the military’s injustice.

“The SDP leadership, including Lamido and chairman Tony Anenih, wrote their names in the book of infamy by surrendering the people’s mandate without resistance.

“To their eternal shame, Lamido and Anenih teamed up with the defeated National Republican Convention to deny Abiola his mandate.

“In sharp contrast, Senator Bola Tinubu stood firm even before General Abacha dissolved the political parties and all democratic institutions, including the National Assembly, on November 17, 1993, following his coup”, the statement said.

It equally provided further details relating to events which apparently took place during the days of the struggle to revalidate the outcome of the elections, considered the fairest and the freest.

“Days after General Babangida addressed the Senate and announced his decision to step aside on August 27, 1993, the setting up of an interim government to replace him, Senators debated the speech. On the Senate floor on August 19, 1993. .

 

“Tinubu unequivocally condemned the annulment, describing it as another coup d’état and urging Nigerians to reject injustice and lawlessness.

*The records captured his contribution, showing that he supported upholding the June 12 election, not against it, as Lamido claimed.”

“We have a situation that suggests that the abortion of the June 12 election is another coup d’etat,” Senator Tinubu said when he spoke on the floor of the Senate.

“My question is, when are we going to stop tolerating injustices, coup d’etat and abuse by the people on whom we invested so much resources—the public funds of this country?…

“Yes, it is true that we have a crisis, but for every action, there must be a reaction. This is a self-inflicted crisis because, without the abortion or annulment of the June 12 election, there would be no crisis like this.

“We have a government that made the law and abused its law. Therefore, the present military administration, by virtue of abrogation and violation of its own decree, has committed a crime,” the Senator from Lagos West told his colleagues.

Recall that the winner of the election, Abiola, was out of the country when the legislators debated Babangida’s offer to get him to step aside to allow an interim government to be formed.

What is known is that Abiola returned to the country in September 1993. But who was part of the intricate conversations that took place.

The Presidency statement asked, “And who followed him to the Abacha military group, then openly planning a coup against the Ernest Shonekan-led ING?”

“It was Tinubu”, the statement revealed, “Photographs exist today, showing Tinubu behind Abiola and Abacha.”

“Weeks after Abacha supplanted the ING, it quickly became clear to Abiola and Tinubu that Abacha would not be a soldier of democracy”, the statement explained.

With power securely under his belt, Abacha reneged on an understanding that could have allowed Abiola to reclaim his mandate.

According to it, “Abacha took over on November 17, 1993, and dissolved all democratic institutions, including governors, the National Assembly, and the state legislature. Tinubu and a group of senators reconvened in Lagos, defying the junta. Tinubu, Ameh Ebute, Abu Ibrahim, and others were arrested and kept at Alagbon.

“The police took them to court and fabricated a case against them. While in police detention, Tinubu continued to fund pro-June 12 protests in Lagos, including the blockade of the Third Mainland Bridge.”