The Presidency has issued a strongly worded statement refuting recent claims made by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of supporting the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
In a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the Presidency described Lamido’s allegations as “a distortion of history” and “a regrettable attempt at revisionism.”
Lamido, during a live television interview, alleged that Tinubu’s political prominence only began with the formation of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), and further claimed that Tinubu’s mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mobilised market women in support of the annulment. The Presidency firmly dismissed these assertions, insisting that Alhaja Mogaji never backed the annulment and would have lost her leadership role if she had.
Setting the record straight, the statement recalled Tinubu’s vocal opposition to the annulment as a senator during debates on August 19, 1993, following General Ibrahim Babangida’s decision to step aside. Tinubu reportedly condemned the annulment, labeling it “another coup d’état” and accused the military government of committing a “crime” against Nigerians.
“Senator Tinubu stood firm even before General Abacha dissolved all democratic institutions,” Onanuga noted, adding that Tinubu and other senators who resisted Abacha’s regime were arrested, charged, and detained.
The statement also chronicled Tinubu’s pivotal role in the formation of NADECO in 1994, his five-year exile, and his material and financial support for the pro-democracy movement, including backing Professor Wole Soyinka’s NALICON and funding resistance efforts such as the blockade of Lagos’ Third Mainland Bridge.
In contrast, the Presidency accused Lamido, then Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), of failing to resist the military’s subversion of democracy, alleging that he and other party leaders “surrendered the people’s mandate without resistance.”
“Lamido and his ilk made deals with Abacha, while Tinubu was risking his life and livelihood for democracy,” Onanuga stated.
The Presidency dismissed Lamido’s remarks as politically motivated and accused him of being part of a “Coalition of the Disgruntled” attempting to rewrite history out of envy.
“We do not want to believe that Alhaji Lamido suffers from what psychologists call tall poppy syndrome… but the conclusion is inevitable,” the statement read.
The Presidency concluded by reaffirming President Tinubu’s unwavering democratic credentials and advised Lamido to “check his facts before going on television to spread falsehoods.”
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