By Gideon Njoku
General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB, the man at the centre of the annulment of the June 12, 1993, Presidential election, has disclosed that he made “a consolatory” offer to Chief Moshood Abiola, presumed winner (then)of the election, to head an Interim National Government, while the intrigues which concerned the annulment were being sorted out.
IBB said he made the offer to Abiola after series of brainstorming meetings and consultations, including with Traditional Rulers and Abiola and his family members. But Abiola, IBB disclosed, flatly rejected the offer for two reasons.
One, Abiola already knew he won the Election fair and square. So, why an Interim Head? Why not the main thing? But the second reason, and most important, according to IBB, was late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, who IBB said deceived Abiola.
Pretending to be Abiola’s friend, even though, said IBB, Abacha had a deep rooted hatred for him (Abiola), he convinced him to reject the offer, and instead, gave him the impression that once he, IBB, is removed from office, he, Abacha, would de-annul June 12, and install Abiola as President.
What Abiola did not know, said IBB, is that Abacha was, literally, the main brain behind the annulment as he, Abacha, was hell bent on the Military not handing over to a Civilian Government.
He, also, said that Abacha and his group were those who deceived Abiola into proceeding on exile, and, arrested and detained him as soon as he came back to Nigeria. Abiola’s absence, he said, gave Abacha and Co. the opportunity to consolidate their plans and position.
These revelations, like claps of thunder, came as IBB tried to explain exactly the intrigues that surrounded the annulment of the June 12, 1993, Presidential Election which his regime annulled.
32 years after the annulment of the election considered free and fair, General Babangida, the man who announced the annulment, finally, has the courage to publicly admit that indeed, Chief Moshood Abiola, won the Election.
Abiola of the Social Democratic Party, had slugged it out with Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention, NRC.
Writing in his autobiography, “A Journey In Service” which was presented to the public in Abuja, on Thursday, February 20, IBB said at a point, he told Abiola that both their lives were on the line.
He wrote:
“At one of my several meetings with Abiola, arranged this time by some traditional leaders, I offered Abiola an interim position pending when we could resolve the situation. Not surprisingly, Abiola turned down my offer.
“How could anyone blame him? Since he was convinced that he had won the elections that the annulment had denied him, it seemed overtly inappropriate to accept an interim arrangement. For him, it was a matter of once bitten, twice shy!
“At another meeting, this time a more private meeting of both families, I articulated that our lives were in danger of being snuffed out by lurking forces that wished both of us ill.
“Unfortunately, Abiola turned his back on rapprochement with me and embraced the gimmicks of deceitful ‘friends’ who hid their real intentions from him. I read somewhere, I believe, in one of Abiola’s newspapers, that Abiola thought that the moment these ‘friends’ overthrew me, the elections would be de-annulled and that he would be installed as President by his ‘coup plotting friends.
“As it turned out, Abiola was advised by these same ‘friends’ to leave the country to avoid death threats from fictitious military elements. Abiola’s departure paved the way for his ‘friends’ to consolidate their conspiratorial positions, eventually leading to another military takeover.
“Without question, one of my biggest headaches at this time was Sani Abacha. I knew that Abacha was ambivalent about a return to civil rule. But I thought, in retrospect now, naively, that he would support our transition to civil rule programme.
“As I said earlier, Abacha and I had come a long way. We were good friends, and he had indeed been nice to me. As I have said elsewhere, he saved my life once and also risked his life to ensure that I took over in 1985. I could never forget those details.
“But it’s also correct that he was a complex character. He was capable of bottling up a lot inside without giving a hint of where he was. And then, suddenly, the bottle bursts, and we begin to see a different person. I obviously didn’t know everything about him!
“For instance, I was alarmed to discover that he and a handful of others mobilised negative opinions against me within the military, portraying me as the problem.
“That campaign was geared towards a violent military coup to remove me as President forcefully. But even more bizarre for me was my discovery of the loathing that Abacha had for the person of Abiola, whom I thought had a good relationship with him.”
The day Babangida stepped aside, August 15, 1993, he handed over to Chief Ernest Shonekan as the Interim Head of Government.
But in November, 1993, Abacha overthrew the Interim Government set up by Babangida.
He, it was, who arrested Abiola, clamped him into detention for declaring himself President in April 1994, and charged him for treason.
Both men died suddenly in 1998. Abacha in June 1998, inside Aso Rock, and Abiola, in July, at his detention centre.
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