A former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu supported the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and was not part of the early pro-democracy resistance that followed.
Speaking in an interview on Arise Television over the weekend, Lamido said Tinubu, who was a senator under the Social Democratic Party during the election, was “a major supporter” of former military ruler, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, who annulled the poll. His words: “Luckily, we were all alive.
We were all there and participants in that affair of political history. I was in the middle of it. “Tinubu became relevant and noticeable after Abacha took over the government. “With all respect to him, he was part of those people who supported Babangida’s annulment of June 12. “He was part of them.
“His own mother, Haija Mogaji from Lagos, organised the Lagos market women to Abuja to support Babangida. “I’m saying this because it is history. I mean no harm or disrespect.” Lamido added that he found Tinubu’s public remarks about his role in the democratic struggle unconvincing. “I feel highly entertained by Tinubu’s rhetoric.
The way he is dramatising his own role in Nigerian democracy. ”He was actively hand-inglove with Babangida. “Tinubu, after being Nigerian president, decided to rewrite and deconstruct history. It is very amusing.
“He was part of Babangida’s supporters on June 12. It was when Abacha took over the government that Tinubu became the so-called activist of June 12,” the ex-Jigawa governor explained.
Lamido also criticised members of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which Tinubu later joined, saying they only emerged after General Sani Abacha seized power. “All those NADECO (activists), where were they on June 11? “They were not part of the June 12 campaign and activities.
“He was a major supporter of Babangida,” he insisted. Lamido further claimed that while he and others stayed back to resist the military, Tinubu left the country. “Tinubu ran away from the country,” Lamido said. He concluded by expressing political opposition to the President, saying he is prepared to align with others to remove Tinubu from office in the 2027 general election.
Meanwhile, claims by the former Governor of Jigawa State, on President Bola Tinubu’s role in the annulment of June 12, 1993 election, have been disputed by the Presidency. However, in a statement yesterday, Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, described the allegations as “patently false”.
He said thatb Lamido colluded with the National Republican Convention (NRC) to surrender the mandate won by the SDP to the militional Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu, stated that the coalition of political parties was the most effective means to change the current leadership in the country.
He advised the south-easterners to move into the coalition and work with other Nigerians for the emergence of an all-inclusive political leadership. Meanwhile, the group tary government.
Onanuga said Tinubu, who was then a senator, opposed the annulment on the floor of the National Assembly, where he described it as “injustice” and a “coup d’etat.” “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 proJune 12 protests in Lagos, including the blockade of the Third Mainland Bridge,” he said.
