JUNE'12.

1993 Presidential elections held in Nigeria
Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on 12 June 1993, the first since the 1983 military coup. The result was a victory for Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola of the Social Democratic Party, who defeated Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention. However, the elections were later annulled by military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, leading to a crisis that ended with Sani Abacha heading a coup later in the year.
The election was the most peaceful election ever held in Nigeria since Independence. The man who won the election and his Deputy are both Muslims, it was the freest and fairest election in Nigeria since independence, it was celebrated and extolled by local, national and international observers.
For the first time in the history of this country Nigerians jettisoned both ethnic and primordial sentiments to elect leaders of their choice. There was no record of violence, intimidation, snatching of ballot boxes, multiple voting, rigging etc. There was no protest from any Part of the country until IBB and his cohorts started brandishing ethnic cards to stop the silent revolution.
The election was declared Nigeria’s freest and fairest presidential election by national and international observers, with Abiola even winning in his Northern opponent’s home state. Abiola won at the national capital, Abuja, the military polling stations, and over two-thirds of Nigerian states. The reason why the election was so historic was because men of Northern descent had largely dominated Nigeria’s political landscape since independence. The fact that Moshood Abiola (a Southern Muslim) was able to secure a national mandate freely and fairly remains unprecedented in Nigeria’s history. However, the election was annulled by Ibrahim Babangida,a political crisis that ensued which led to General Sani Abacha seizing power later that year.