…Presidency counters claim
Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamiɗo, 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.
Speaking during an interview during a television programme at the weekend, Lamiɗo said Tinubu, who was a senator under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the election, was “a major supporter” of former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, who annulled the poll.
“Luckily, we were all alive. We were all there and participants in that affair of political history. I was in the middle of it. Tinubu became relevant and noticeable after Abacha took over the government”. Lamiɗo stated.
“With all respect to him, he was part of those people who supported Babangida’s annulment of June 12. He was part of them. His own mother, Haija Mogaji from Lagos, organised the Lagos market women to Abuja to support Babangida. I’m saying this because it is history. I mean no harm or disrespect”, he added.
According to him, “Tinubu, after being Nigerian president, decided to rewrite and deconstruct history. It is very amusing. He was part of Babangida’s supporters on June 12. It was when Abacha took over the government that Tinubu became the so-called activist of June 12”.
Lamiɗo also criticised members of the National Democratic Coalition, which Tinubu later joined, saying they only emerged after General Sani Abacha seized power. “All those NADECO (activists), where were they on June 11? They were not part of the June 12 campaign and activities. He was a major supporter of Babangida”, he said.
He further claimed that while he and others stayed back to resist the military, Tinubu left the country. “Tinubu ran away from the country”, Lamiɗo said. He concluded by expressing political opposition to the President, saying he is prepared to align with others to remove Tinubu from office in the 2027 general election.
However, in a swift and strongly worded rebuttal, titled: “Setting the Record Straight: President Tinubu’s Role in the June 12 Struggle”, the Presidency dismissed Lamiɗo’s statements as “a distortion of history” and “a regrettable attempt at revisionism.”
The Presidency maintained that Tinubu was among the few SDP members who opposed the annulment from the onset. It cited his August 19, 1993, speech in the Senate, where he denounced the annulment as a “coup d’état” and demanded its reversal.
The Presidency also defended the legacy of Tinubu’s Late mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, calling Lamiɗo’s claim about her support for Babangida “patently false.” “Had she done so, she would have lost her position as market leader in Lagos”, the statement further read.
Further turning the tables, the statement accused Lamiɗo himself—then national secretary of the SDP—of colluding with the defeated National Republican Convention (NRC) to undermine MKO Abiola’s victory. “To their eternal shame. Lamiɗo and Tony Anenih teamed up with the NRC to deny Abiola his mandate”, it further stated.
The Presidency stressed that even after Abacha’s takeover in November 1993, Tinubu remained defiant. He was among a group of senators who attempted to reconvene in Lagos, an act that led to their arrest and detention at Alagbon. It added that Tinubu provided financial backing for June 12 protests, including the famous Third Mainland Bridge blockade.
“President Tinubu stood firm when many chose silence or compromise,” the statement concluded. “His role in the June 12 struggle is etched in history and backed by documented facts”.
