This is the first time a detailed analysis of the issues leading to the June 12, 1993, election and detention and subsequent controversial death of the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, winner of the election, is outlined by an insider who is very close to both Abiola and late Sani Abacha to know the secret details.

Below is Dr Ore Falomo, Abiola's personal physician's exposé in a recent interview with Punch. It is a must read...

Can you recall your last meeting with M.K.O Abiola. When was it, and what was the state of his health?

It was about two weeks before he died. But the visit before the last was more remarkable. It was arranged by the military government to dispel the rumour that Abiola had died in detention. They quickly arranged a meeting for me to go and see him. They sent one captain from Aso Rock to me to tell me that I was needed urgently in Aso Rock. This was the penultimate meeting to the last meeting with him. I found the message strange because my previous meetings were arranged by the commissioner of police in Abuja, under whom Abiola was supposed to be. Whenever I visited him, I usually returned to Lagos by 6pm, but that day, it was not possible because immediately I got into the car, they started driving round Abuja to waste time so that it would be dark and I won’t recognise where they were taking me to.

When we got to the place, Abiola was there. It was a new place; I had not seen him there before. It was a bungalow. As soon as they opened the door and Abiola saw me, he came towards me and we hugged. We sat and unlike before, none of the guards waited to listen to our discussion. We spoke Yoruba all the time. They objected to it at first, later on they agreed. That day he was behaving like he was in the spirit. I told him there was a rumour that he had been killed. He said, ‘I know that I’m dead. They have dug the grave. They have put me in the grave except that they have not close me up.’ I asked, ‘What happened? Have they injured you or injected you?’ He said no, but that he just knew.

That means he had the premonition that he was going to die in detention.
Yes. As he was talking, his mood changed. He told me he had forgiven those who caused his incarceration; that it was left for them to ask for forgiveness from God. He said he forgave them because he wants God to forgive him his sins. All these were strange, because in my previous visits, he was always asking about the things that were happening in the country. Then he started singing, ‘Nearer my God to thee, nearer to thee.’ He used to sing Christian songs. After signing the song in English, he started singing it in Yoruba. Then he got up; hugged me and we began to cry. It was very emotional. I tried to calm him down, because I didn’t know what he had seen. All through this period, the guards did not come to say time was up. I told him I will tell the story to the people, which was normal after every visit.

But did you observe any sign or symptoms of illness in him?
No. He was neither sick nor injured. You could say his spirit was low, but his body was good. There were no signs and symptoms of any illness. He spoke from a very conscious mind. That was the most poignant visit. The last visit was routine; to change his toiletries and so on.

The then Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, recently told us that when he visited Abiola few days to his death, he was in high spirits, because he was happily awaiting his release. How did he overcome the depression?About two weeks to Abiola’s death, Abdulsalami Abubakar had started to send out word that Abiola might be released. So, the whole town started to rejoice. I don’t know how that one was done. They even got to me and said my trips to Abuja would soon end. I knew the government was not going to try him. Chief Rotimi Williams had already told us that they did not have any evidence against him. There was no point going to court. As far as I knew, Abiola knew that they would not allow him to come out just like that since they would not take him to court. Every time, they were asking him to denounce his mandate and prepare himself for another election, but he refused. During my last visit, I told him I had the rumour that Abubakar will release him but I did not want him to believe the rumour until there was concrete evidence.

How did you receive the news of his death?
That day, I was in the sitting room here. A call came from the personal physician of Abubakar. He said, ‘Doctor, get yourself ready and start coming to Abuja. The Head of State has sent his personal jet through Governor Buba Marwa, it would be at the VIP section of the airport.’ Of course, I was not going to enter that aircraft. But I asked him, ‘Why are you sending for me? I was given about two weeks appointment to come and see Abiola, so tell me what has happened that warrants me to come urgently.’ He didn’t want to tell me that Abiola had died, so that my reaction would not be, ‘Alright if you have killed him; eat him. I’m not the doctor for the dead, but for the living.’ That could have been my reaction, which was exactly my reaction when I finally learnt that he had died. After that, I called Kola Abiola and told him that something bad had happened but that I didn’t know the extent. The doctor also told me not to come alone; that I should bring any of my colleagues. I then thought, maybe he had not died. I told Kola and he said, ‘Doctor let’s go to the airport and take the plane to Abuja.’ I didn’t know Kola had heard. We boarded Kola’s car and he tuned to BBC news. At that time, it was about 15 minutes to 6pm. Then they announced that Abiola had died. I asked Kola, ‘Is that true?’ He wasn’t crying, I knew he had heard. I told him to turn back. And just before we got to Maryland, people had started rioting. We were lucky to escape without the car being damaged..............http://www.tutubranch.com/2013/06/Mko-Abiola-June12-Falomo.html

So he sang christian songs before he died, he even forgave his offenders .but remain with the truth of what he believed in "he won june 12 election in nigeria.but the painful tin is that many of this guys after they have deceived many ll repent and accept jesus and die a christian death while many ll be calling them muslim heroes. Same I heard of fela who they claim accepted christianity on his dying bed.before you shout check the papers