Former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), has publicly acknowledged that Moshood Abiola was the rightful winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. This revelation came during the launch of his autobiography, A Journey In Service, in Abuja on Thursday.
Babangida, who annulled the election, triggering widespread protests and unrest across the country, devoted a page of his 420-page book to the transition from military rule to democracy and the controversial June 12 saga.
During the review of the autobiography, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo read a section that shed light on the circumstances surrounding the election and its annulment. He quoted IBB as saying that although he had previously questioned Abiola’s victory, deeper reflection and a detailed examination of election results had led him to concede that Abiola was indeed the legitimate winner.
“Although I’m on record to have admitted after the election that Abiola may not have won, upon deeper reflections, and a close examination of all available facts, particularly the detailed election results published as an appendix to this book, there was no doubt that MKO Abiola won the June 12 election,” Osinbajo read from the book.
IBB noted that based on the original collated figures from 110 polling booths nationwide, Abiola satisfied the constitutional requirements for victory. He secured 8,128,720 votes against Bashir Tofa’s 5,844,247 votes and achieved the mandatory one-third of votes cast in 28 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Reflecting on the annulment, Babangida described the June 12 saga as the most challenging period of his life, admitting that if given another opportunity, he would have handled it differently.
“I was pleased when the Buhari administration finally recognised Abiola as a former head of state of Nigeria,” he added.
The admission marks a significant shift in Babangida’s stance on the election, long regarded as a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s democratic history.
