Eshiorameh Sebastian, Abuja
Senator Babafemi Ojudu has sharply criticised former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, over his recent comments on the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, describing them as a deliberate distortion of history.
Ojudu in a post on his social media account on Monday, accused Lamido and other key political figures of complicity in the events that followed the annulment, which he said undermined Nigeria’s democracy.
Lamido had in a recent interview with Arise News alleged that President Tinubu worked with the military junta that annulled the June 12 1993 presidential election won by late MKO Abiola.
However, Ojudu insisted that Lamido’s account of the crisis was misleading and demanded that the truth about the roles played by certain politicians during that period not be rewritten.
“We must not allow historical revisionism to take root, especially on an issue as significant as June 12,” he said. “If Lamido, alongside Tony Anenih and Abubakar Rimi, had stood firmly for the restoration of that democratic mandate, perhaps the tragedy that followed—the subversion of the people’s will—might have been averted.”
He recalled how Rimi, Lamido’s political mentor, publicly dismissed accusations of abandoning MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the annulled election. “Abubakar Rimi once said at a press conference, ‘I didn’t come into politics because of Abiola.’ That statement alone revealed a shocking lack of commitment to democracy at a time when Nigeria needed principled leadership,” Ojudu said. He argued that such attitudes emboldened the military regime, allowing Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha to entrench their hold on power.
Ojudu also highlighted what he called a critical miscalculation by pro-democracy activists and politicians who trusted Abacha’s false promises.
“Abacha claimed he was only stepping in temporarily to remove anti-Abiola elements in the military and that power would later be handed over to the rightful winner,” he said. “Many, including even General Diya, were deceived into supporting this charade. Politicians were offered minor roles as deputy administrators under military governors to buy their silence. But once Abacha consolidated power, he discarded every promise and turned against both the democracy movement and the very people who enabled him.”
He stressed that Lamido and others who failed to support the June 12 mandate must not be allowed to rewrite history. “June 12 is not just a date—it represents the Nigerian people’s struggle for justice, fairness, and the sanctity of the ballot,” Ojudu said. “Those who stood by while democracy was betrayed should not now insult the nation’s collective memory by pretending they were innocent bystanders. Their actions, or lack thereof, contributed to the suffering that followed.”
The betrayal of that moment, he argued, was not just the work of the military but also of politicians who chose opportunism over principle. “Any attempt to revise this history is an insult to those who fought and suffered for democracy,” he said. “We owe them the truth.”
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