Claim

  The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has refuted claims made by a former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, regarding the roles of key political figures in the post-June 12, 1993 presidential election annulment struggle. Speaking on Arise TV on Sunday, Alake dismissed Lamido’s narrative as “hagiography and an attempt at revisionism,” asserting that President Bola Tinubu was a central and active participant from the beginning. PUNCH Online earlier reported that a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu supported the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and was not part of the early pro-democracy resistance that followed. Reacting, Alake, an eyewitness to many of the events, began by recounting the sequence of events that led to the June 12 crisis. He noted that the initial shock to the nation was the suspension of election results on June 16, 1993, four days after the election. “Everybody knew MKO Abiola was coasting home to victory,” Alake stated, recalling a moment with MKO Abiola in his Ikeja, Lagos home where Abiola was settling debts, declaring, “He didn’t want to get into the presidency with debt.” The final blow, the total cancellation of the election results, came on June 23, plunging Nigeria into a political struggle. According to Alake, following the annulment announcement, Tinubu “threw his hat into the ring.” He provided a detailed account of Tinubu’s immediate involvement, including an instance where Tinubu facilitated air clearance for MKO Abiola’s aircraft to land in Katsina to commiserate with the Yar’Adua family, even as then-military President Ibrahim Babangida was also flying there. Alake emphasised that upon MKO Abiola’s return to Lagos after the cancellation announcement, it was Tinubu he immediately contacted to “start the preparations for the onslaught against that unjustified announcement.” Alake particularly challenged Lamido’s perceived absence in the early days of the protests. He asserted Tinubu’s role in the foundational stages of the pro-democracy movement. “I can tell you authoritatively because I was part and parcel of the protest, the planning and execution. “Tinubu was one of the funders and one of the organisers, one of the planners of all the protests, June, July 23, 24, 25 of 1993 against the annulment,” Alake stated directly, underscoring Tinubu’s commitment long before the Abacha regime came to power. The minister further recounted Tinubu’s involvement in the efforts to restore the June 12 mandate after General Sani Abacha assumed office on November 17, 1993. Alake revealed that Tinubu escorted MKO Abiola to meet with Abacha upon the latter’s assumption of office. “Asiwaju Tinubu was the one that escorted MKO to go and see Abacha to negotiate how Abacha would relinquish office and hand over to MKO,” Alake said, adding that he was a “living witness” to the crafting of this meeting the night before. Punch