The Presidency has strongly dismissed recent claims by former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, alleging that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu supported the annulment of the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election.
In a detailed statement titled “Setting the Record Straight: President Tinubu’s Role in the June 12 Struggle,” the Presidency described Lamido’s remarks as a “distortion of history” and a “regrettable attempt at revisionism.”
Speaking on live television, Lamido had accused Tinubu of only emerging as a pro-democracy figure after the formation of NADECO and went further to claim that Tinubu’s late mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mobilised market women to support the annulment—a claim the Presidency says is “patently false.”
“Had she [Mogaji] done so,” the statement read, “she would have lost her position as market leader in Lagos.”
The statement went on to place responsibility for the betrayal of MKO Abiola’s mandate on the leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), of which Lamido was national secretary at the time.
“To their eternal shame,” the statement noted, “Lamido and [SDP Chairman] Tony Anenih teamed up with the defeated National Republican Convention to deny Abiola his mandate.”
In contrast, the Presidency highlighted Tinubu’s unflinching resistance to the annulment, referencing his fiery Senate speech on August 19, 1993, where he labelled the annulment a coup d’état and called on Nigerians to reject injustice.
“We have a situation that suggests that the abortion of the June 12 election is another coup d’état,” then-Senator Tinubu said during the floor debate. “This is a self-inflicted crisis… the present military administration… has committed a crime.”
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The statement added that Tinubu, even after General Sani Abacha’s takeover on November 17, 1993, continued to resist military rule. He was part of a group of senators who defied the junta, reconvened in Lagos, and were arrested and detained at Alagbon.
“While in detention, Tinubu continued to fund pro-June 12 protests, including the blockade of the Third Mainland Bridge,” it noted.
The Presidency also reminded Nigerians that Tinubu was one of the few political figures who followed Abiola into confrontation with the Abacha regime, long before it became apparent that Abacha would betray the promise to restore Abiola’s mandate.
“The truth is clear,” the statement concluded. “President Tinubu stood firm when many chose silence or compromise. His role in the June 12 struggle is etched in history and backed by documented facts.”
The rebuttal comes amid a wave of renewed discourse around Nigeria’s democratic history as the country recently marked Democracy Day on June 12, a date now set aside in honour of MKO Abiola and the pro-democracy movement that followed the annulment of his election.