Twenty years after he aborted what could
have been a transition from military to
democratic rule when he annulled the
historic June 12, 1993 election that
produced Chief Moshood Kashimawo
Olawale (MKO)
Abiola as presumed winner, the leading actor in that
epic episode, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida
(rtd), has finally opened up on what actually
transpired.
Often accused as being the Achilles heel of Nigeria's
democratic process, Babangida maintained a sealed lip
on the mystery of what is today referred to as "June
12" as he refused to go beyond the fact that what was
widely acclaimed as Nigeria's freest and fairest
election yet, was annulled by his administration
thereby setting the stage for a series of events that
has led the country to where it is today.
But all that is about to change as a book, "Ibrahim
Babangida: The Military, Politics and Power in Nigeria",
written by one of the founding members of
Newswatch magazine, Dan Agbese, may have pulled
off the veil and given us a critical insider account into
those dark, troubling days.
However, what most people might interesting but
unbelievable is the claim that Babangida, popularly
referred to as IBB, the man who annulled the
election, had actually encouraged Abiola in every way
possible to run.
According to the gap-toothed general in an interview
published in the book, he supported Abiola "a lot,
morally and financially in the campaign." He said he
gave the business mogul N35 million to help in the
election.
He added that before Abiola entered the race, they
both "talked of the pros and cons" of Abiola's
presidential ambition and when Abiola "eventually
decided that he wanted to go (for it), I supported the
idea that he should do it", IBB said.
According to Babangida, he had wanted to make Abiola
the chairman of the Transitional Council because he
believed his friend "enjoyed tremendous political
goodwill. His name was a household name. He had the
international contact and Nigeria too had a very good
chance of having someone like him heading that
organisation."
However, according to the book, this proposition was
dead on arrival as some of Babangida's colleagues in
the ruling council opposed it. Instead, they agreed to
accept him as a member of the council but not the
chairman.
The former military president's intention, according to
the book, was to bring Abiola in as a member and
ensure that he was elected as chairman by members
of the Transitional Council.
The book further reveals that the Armed Forces
Ruling Council (AFRC) had decided that the chairman
of the Transitional Council should come from the
South West where Abiola came from. But Abiola rather
wanted Babangida to announce him as chairman
"straight away." He told Babangida that, that was how
his family wanted it because they feared that the
president might change his mind once he made him
just a member.
"Left to me," says Babangida, "I wanted to make him
the chairman. Then he decided and blew it."
The emergence of the two presidential candidates in
that election was equally dramatic.
It followed the disqualification of 23 presidential
aspirants. According to the book, IBB had regarded the
23 disqualified from participating in the presidential
election, as the first 11 among the politicians jostling
for power. Their ban gave birth to a new set of
political actors on the stage of the transition
programme.
"With the first 11 put out in the cold, there were few
runners in the field. Two men easily emerged from
the thin crowd of presidential aspirants. One was the
billionaire philanthropist, Bashorun M.K.O Abiola, who
nursed a presidential ambition going back all the way
to the major financiers of the National Party of Nigeria
(NPN).
"He intended to contest the presidential election on
the platform of the party in 1983. The party moguls
erected obstacle in the way. He quit the party and
partisan politics altogether in 1982. He was affected
by the ban on former politicians and public office
holders and unsuccessfully challenged his ban at the
tribunal. With the ban lifted, he joined SDP in January
1993 and was elected the party's presidential flag
bearer at its convention in Jos in March that year.
"The other man was Alhaji Bashir Tofa, who, like
Abiola, was a national executive member of NPN. He
was the party's national financial secretary. He picked
the presidential ticket of the NRC at its convention at
Port Harcourt in March 1993.
"Both men were Babangida's close friends", the book
says.
Babangida was not quite comfortable with this. He
says he feared people would accuse him of
manipulating the transition programme to favour his
close friends. He even tried to discourage Tofa from
contesting the election
"I told him (Tofa) in the presence of about 13 of his
colleagues. I advised him not to seek for that election.
I didn't support him. He was not a winning candidate."
According to the book, even the chairman of National
Electoral Commission, Professor Humphrey Nwosu, had
seen the conduct of the presidential election as
critical to the entire transition programme and was on
ground to see that it ended on a sound note.
But the storm was gathering, as the "National Defence
and Security Council did not openly object to the two
presidential candidates – Abiola and Tofa – but some
elements in the military in cahoots with some of the
politicians wanted to stop them from contesting the
election.
"Several times the council, pressurised by these
elements, came close to disqualifying the two men.
Some members of the council felt that neither Abiola
nor Tofa was fit to be president. They assailed Abiola's
character. Babangida recalls that "they never saw him
as somebody who was morally upright or fit..."
"They tried to blackmail him as a government
contractor to whom the government owed a lot of
money and they didn't feel comfortable that this
would be their commander – in – chief."
The book notes how providence smiled on the two
presidential candidates and, according to Babangida,
the council feared that "if we stopped it (the
election), we would be in trouble again. What was
paramount in our mind then was we wouldn't like to
be accused again of not wanting to leave office. So, we
said let the bloody thing go on."
The decision to "let the bloody thing go on," was
actually a fluke. The military, according to Babangida,
believed "that we would have an inconclusive
election. We thought we should be fair to let it run
and when it became inconclusive, then we would take
whatever action that we deemed necessary over a re-
run or a re-election or something like that."
The military, the book says, underrated Abiola's clout,
as his large followership rattled those elements in the
military that did not like him.
"About a week or so before the June 12, 1993,
presidential election, security reports indicated that
Abiola would certainly trounce Tofa beyond dispute.
He would win on the first ballot. The election would
not be inconclusive. The report caused some jitters in
military circle. What to do?"
The cabal in the military that didn't want an Abiola
presidency went to task on what line of action to take
next.
The book talks about the infamous role played by
former Second Republic senator, Francis Nzeribe, who
came up with the military-should-stay campaign,
which served as tonic for the government.
He formed the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN),
with Abimbola Davies as his second in command.
"Nzeribe went to Abuja high court on June 10 to stop
the presidential election for alleged irregularities and
corruption in the conduct of the SDP primaries won by
Abiola. ABN alleged that Abiola used money to induce
the majority of the delegates to vote for him.
"At 9.30pm on the same day, the court, presided over
by Justice Bassey Ita Ikpeme, now deceased, threw
the spanner into the works. She "restrained (NEC)
from conducting the presidential election on the June
12, 1993."
"Her judgment was the first major indication that the
transition programme was under serious threat. Nwosu
tried to salvage it. He appeared before the NDSC on
June 11 and put a strong argument in favour of going
ahead with the election. He argued, quite
passionately, that if the election was postponed, the
election materials already on site would be
compromised.
"NEC had enough protection under the decree to
ignore Ikpeme's ruling. But the Attorney General and
Minister of Justice, Clement Akpamgbo, had a
different take on the issue. He did not support
Nwosu's position. Instead, he advised that the election
be postponed in obedience to the order, NEC could
then appeal and have the order set aside by a
superior court."

ipaidabribenaija.com/news/item/64760-june-12-ibb-finally-opens-up-says-he-gave-late-abiola-n35m-to-contest

So things are unfolding.
I even thought abiola was saint as we are been made to believe
Mkpo aba oh!