The Presidency has refuted recent claims by former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, that President Bola Tinubu supported the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.
In a statement on Sunday, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, described Lamido’s remarks, made during a live television appearance, as false and an attempt at historical revisionism.
The Presidency dismissed these claims as “patently false,” insisting that Alhaja Mogaji never mobilised support for the annulment and would have lost her position as market leader in Lagos had she done so.
Onanuga said Lamido’s comments represented a distortion of history, noting that as secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Lamido and the party’s leadership failed to oppose the military’s injustice and surrendered the people’s mandate.
“Had she done so, she would have lost her position as market leader in Lagos. While she once had a personal relationship with then-President Babangida, this was before the annulment crisis.
“It is important to remind Nigerians that Alhaji Lamido, as secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)—the party whose candidate, MKO Abiola, won the June 12 election—was among those who failed to oppose the military’s injustice.
“The SDP leadership, including Lamido and chairman Tony Anenih, wrote their names in the book of infamy by surrendering the people’s mandate without resistance. To their eternal shame, Lamido and Anenih teamed up with the defeated National Republican Convention to deny Abiola his mandate.”
The statement contrasted Lamido’s record with Tinubu’s, recalling that Tinubu had condemned the annulment on the floor of the Senate, describing it as another coup d’état and urging Nigerians to reject injustice.
Onanuga cited Tinubu’s remarks during a Senate debate on 19th August 1993, in which he said, “We have a situation that suggests that the abortion of the June 12 election is another coup d’état.”
Onanuga added that Tinubu remained active in the pro-democracy struggle, supporting June 12 protests, helping to form NADECO, and later going into exile while Lamido and others “made deals with Abacha.”
The statement advised Lamido to verify his facts before making public statements and accused him of attempting to rewrite history for political reasons.
It said, “The election winner, Abiola, was out of the country when the legislators debated Babangida’s offer to step aside for an interim government. He returned in September 1993.
“And who followed him to the Abacha military group, then openly planning a coup against the Ernest Shonekan-led ING? It was Tinubu. Photographs exist today, showing Tinubu behind Abiola and Abacha.
“Abacha took over on November 17, 1993, and dissolved all democratic institutions, including governors, the National Assembly, and the state legislature. Tinubu and a group of senators reconvened in Lagos, defying the junta.
“Tinubu, Ameh Ebute, Abu Ibrahim, and others were arrested and kept at Alagbon. The police took them to court and fabricated a case against them. While in police detention, Tinubu continued to fund pro-June 12 protests in Lagos, including the blockade of the Third Mainland Bridge.”
“Weeks after Abacha supplanted the ING, it quickly became clear to Abiola and Tinubu that Abacha would not be a soldier of democracy as he reneged on allowing Abiola to reclaim his mandate,” it added.
