Posted by By Okey Ndiribe, Olasunkanmi Akoni, Bolade Omonijo, Emmanuel Aziken & Kolade Larewaju on
FORMER military Head of State, Maj.-Gen Muhammadu Buhari, said yesterday that the group that annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola was the same group which conspired to rig the 2003 presidential election which he contested on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
LAGOS - FORMER military Head of State, Maj.-Gen Muhammadu Buhari, said yesterday that the group that annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola was the same group which conspired to rig the 2003 presidential election which he contested on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
In a keynote address at a symposium organised by the June12 Coalition to mark the 12th anniversary of the cancelled election in Lagos yesterday, Gen Buhari said: 'This group is still very much around and they are in power."
Senators from across the political divide also on the occasion of the annulled election called yesterday for a symbolic national honour for the late Chief Abiola, while youths marched through major streets of Abeokuta, home town of Chief Abiola.
The former Head of State further said this group of Nigerians was known to always promise a lot but give very little, adding that they are not connected to the people. He said the June 12, 1993 election proved that both religion and ethnicity were non issues in Nigerian politics 'since the Abiola-Kingibe ticket was a Muslim-Muslim ticket but yet won in most parts of the country."
Amidst cheers from the jam-packed hall of the Grandview Hotel, secretariat of the Pro-National Conference Organisation ( PRONACO), he said the tragedy of June 12 was the tragedy of the shut ballot box. He said the solution to this tragedy was to open the ballot box, adding. 'The method of achieving this goal is through a coalition of all progressive forces to counter forces of retrogression through the formation of a Granite Coalition".
He further told the gathering that 'a government which emerged from a rigged election cannot be bothered about the basic needs of the people which include provision of qualitative healthcare and education." He added that this was why such regimes always visit the people with insensitive public policies. According to him, 'this attitude is responsible for the incessant hike in the prices of fuel."
Dignitaries who attended the occasion included Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; PRONACO leader, Chief Anthony Enahoro; former Governors of Ogun and Oyo states, Chief Olusegun Osoba and Alhaji Lam Adesina respectively and former presidential candidate of the APP during the 1999 presidential election, Chief Olu Falae.
Others were. former Military Governor of Lagos State, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu ( rtd.); founder of Odua Peoples Congress ( OPC), Dr. Fredrick Faseun; Commissioners in the Lagos State government and chairmen of the 57 local government areas in the state.
In his speech, Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos State declared June 12 as struggle for power between progressive and reactionary forces, adding that, that struggle was not to take power for the sake of it.
He said if Chief Abiola had assumed power, the presidency would never disobey the judgment of the Supreme Court.
His words 'There comes a time in the life of a nation when the people must set a new progressive agenda for themselves. For Nigerians who believe in the sacred mandate of June 12, that time is now. Let us, therefore, renew our energy and ideology to rededicate ourselves to fight for democracy by opposing every manifestation of fascism and authoritarian government
'Let us fight to expand the democratic space to free our people from oppressive, immoral powers. Let us struggle to gain a foothold for the right of every Nigerian to live with freedom and dignity in the land in which the Almighty God has placed him.
'Let us wage a relentless battle to reclaim hope from the jaws of despair. Let the spirit of June 12 and the example of MKO drive our determination to create a nation that black world and indeed human race will love to hold aloft as the greatest civilisation that mankind has made."
Abacha's aide dismisses June 12
Some members of the National Political Reform Conference have called for a fitting national monument to be named after Chief Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
However, former legal adviser to the late Gen. Sani Abacha, Prof. Awal Yadudu, consigned the date to history as any other date in the nation's political life.
Alhaji Mohammed Goni, former Governor of the old Borno State and Chief Emeka Ezeife, first Governor of the new Anambra State, in separate interviews with Vanguard yesterday put Abiola's election in 1993 as a monumental feat that surpassed traditional political trends for which he deserved a fitting honour.
Responding to the clamour for a national honour on Chief Abiola, Alhaji Goni, now a member of the National Political Reform Conference said: 'June 12 means a lot to me and to Nigeria as a whole. It was the first time someone from the South-West campaigned vigorously and won a presidential election. It was a day Nigerians defeated religious division by voting a Muslim-Muslim ticket."It was meant to be a rebirth of the country but it was aborted by the military. Today's show in some states is to mark his legacy. Obasanjo is because Abiola was. He deserves a special place in our history."
Dr. Ezeife, himself also a conferee in Abuja, regretted missing the June 12 anniversary lectures in Lagos.
Prof. Yadudu, who served as Gen. Abacha's legal adviser, however, said the date was just like any other date in the nation's history, saying there was nothing special to the date. 'The date is come and gone, like so many other dates in our history," Prof. Yadudu said on phone yesterday.
Senators David Brigidi (PDP, Bayelsa) and Timothy Adudu (ANPP, Plateau) in separate interviews affirmed that Chief Abiola deserved a national honour for the impact his election and subsequent sacrificial persistence helped in the realisation of the nation's present democratic experience.
Senator Ibikunle Amosun who represents the late Abiola's Ogun Central constituency, on his part challenged all democracy stakeholders to uphold Abiola's memory by ensuring that they do not allow the democratic enterprise to derail. Senator Amosun who also represents President Olusegun Obasanjo was hopeful that Chief Abiola would be honoured before the end of the present administration.
Senator Brigidi responding to renewed calls for a national monument after Abiola said yesterday: 'I think he deserves a national honour. It is a better day for democracy because of the significance of the election on our national unity. The man deserves a national monument named after him. I believe that it saved our quest for democracy."
Responding in the same vein, Senator Adudu said the June 12 election was an historic landmark in the nation's political development that had not been appropriately recognised. 'Yes, you are talking about the symbol of Nigerian unity. That was the only election that reflected our zeal, our desire to do away with sentiments and build a nation based on merit," Adudu said as he noted the Muslim-Muslim ticket that coasted Abiola to victory.
Responding to enquiries from Vanguard on the issue, Senator Amosun challenged all democracy stakeholders to ensure that they all contribute towards the sustenance of democracy, which he said was a major goal of Chief Abiola. 'We are all enjoying some of the benefits that he struggled for and it lies upon everyone of us to do everything possible to ensure that we do not derail this democracy," Amosun said.
March in Abeokuta
The June 12 anniversary was marked in Abeokuta, hometown of the late Bashorun MKO Abiola with a march around major streets of the ancient town. Okada riders also participated as they in their tens rode round the state capital.
Organised by the 'June 12 Movement," a coalition of former and present students' union leaders in Ogun State, the march took off from Sapon, the commercial nerve centre of the state capital before going through Oke-Ejigbo, Ake, Isale-Igbehin, and terminating at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto.
The march which brought vehicular activities to a halt in all the areas affected was said to have been organised in conjunction with the state government which provided the logistics.
Singing various solidarity songs, the demonstrators comprising mainly students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta (MAPOLY) were followed with a float on a trailer and some buses of the institution inside which some of them stayed singing and dancing.