A Human rights organisation, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), has called on the Nigerian government to prosecute former military president Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida for annulling the June 12, 1993, presidential election which was won by MKO Abiola.
The CDHR which made the call on the heels of Babangida’s recent public confession and admission of his involvement in the annulment, described his admission as an attempt to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that he acted in good faith by annulling the election which many believed was the fairest election ever conducted in the history of the country.
In a statement on Saturday signed by its President, Debo Adeniran, the CDHR stated that the annulment of the election was not only a coup against Nigeria but a denial of Abiola’s rightful victory and a sociopolitical and moral assault on Nigerians, undermining democracy and resulting in widespread human rights abuses.
“His belated public confessions regarding his role in the illegal annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election is an attempt to hoodwink the unwary Nigerians to believe that the mischievous dictator actually meant well by the brazen sociopolitical and moral assault he unleashed on them by the inglorious act.
“Although we had viewed the June 12 election as being an unfair exercise, going by all the shenanigans that preceded the election.
“These included prevention of willing political associations from transmuting to political parties; creating political parties for politicians; banning, unbanning of eligible politicians from contesting in the election; the creation of political structures, programmes and manifestos for politicians and imposition of alien ideological leanings on Nigerians.
“We insisted that despite widely regarded as the most peaceful and freest election in the Nigeria’s history it was, like the military dictatorship that orchestrated it, not fair but could be tolerated.
“The worst of the unfair treatments unleashed on the 14 million citizens who voted in the election by the self-acclaimed Evil Genius was the inexplicable annulment announced on the 23rd June, 1993, when the world expected the announcement of Chief MKO Abiola, the most credible and popular candidate as winner.
“General Babangida’s belated admission is not only an affront to the principles of democracy and justice but also a clear acknowledgment of his direct involvement in an act that plunged Nigeria into years of political turmoil, civil unrest, loss of lives and properties and inestimable economic hardship.
“It should therefore be regarded as a coup d’état to the administration of M.K.O Abiola who was robbed in broad daylight and denied the opportunity of savouring his well-deserved victory at the polls.
“The annulment of the June 12 election led to severe human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, political assassinations, and the suppression of press freedom.
“In light of this, we call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to immediately order the prosecution of General Babangida for crimes against humanity and for orchestrating a coup d’état that subverted the democratic will of the Nigerian people.
“This prosecution should not be difficult since the chief plotter has confessed to these crimes in public and in writing as published in his bloody book that could have been ‘A Journey into Perdition’ mistitled “A Journey in Service”.
“His actions meet the threshold of crime against humanity, as they resulted in widespread human rights abuses and the repression of pro-democracy activists and ultimately affected huge number of people who were affected by the misrule and misgovernance that followed that inglorious annulment.
“We would also like to remind President Tinubu that just as he said that Babangida lost the opportunity to become a hero with the annulment of the June 12 election, he (President Tinubu) should not lose that opportunity of becoming the hero of the June 12 struggle by announcing MKO Abiola as a past Nigerian president with full privileges of the status posthumously granted him and his family.
“We would also like the Government of the day to punish the likes of all beneficiaries of the coup d’état, especially late Chief Ernest Shonekan, and those that served in his kangaroo and illegal cabinet called the “Interim National Government”.
“We recommend that the national honours conferred on them should be withdrawn and the benefits being paid to the families of the dead ones among them should also be withdrawn. All the physical belongings that they may have acquired during their illegal stay in office should also be confiscated even when some of them could no longer be prosecuted because they are no longer alive.
“Justice for June 12 is justice for democracy, and Nigeria must never allow such an egregious crime to go unpunished. The time for accountability is now.”
