by Alexander O. Onukwue

From Abuja to Lagos, Akure to Benin, through Kano to the South East, the events that led to what we now commemorate as ‘June 12’ will remain the stuff of diverging theories, coined conspiracies, and eternal secrets.

On an annual basis, fresh nuances are brought into the conversation as we attempt to provide clarity into why Nigeria’s first free and fair elections since Independence would not be allowed to stand by the Military Government of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

There are no tapes (Lordy, we wish there were tapes!), and CCTV was not yet big in Nigeria, so no videos are expected either. It means we rely on the words of those who participated and witnessed these events to help our construction of the environment at the time.

Below are statements and perspectives offered through addresses, reports and interviews, within the period before and after June 12, 1993. Hopefully, these will provide some insight into the infamous decision and the fallout there from.

“We have not chosen and have not sought to choose those who will succeed us. We have only decided on those who will not” General Ibrahim Babangida, October 1988

“President Babangida set up the two parties [SDP and NRC], chose the officers, wrote their manifestoes and supplied them with money and officers. He also manipulated the selection of leaders to ensure that no one became president who might turn on him and his military colleagues and investigate corruption and theft during the past 10 years of military rule” The Independent, London, 29th June 1993

“Those who say the military will not go are contemptuous of the transition and the military as the managers of the transition programme. They see a hidden agenda in most of the moves we make… the hidden agenda is presented as a scenario of complex manoeuvres which eventuate in the continuation of military rule or what in their speculation amounts to the same thing, that Babangida will succeed Babangida” General Ibrahim Babangida, May 17th 1993

“Apart from asking Abiola to contest, Babangida encouraged him and said, ‘if you don’t contest in this election, I’m going to die here’. You see, Babangida is evil. All Babangida wanted to do is dissipate Abiola’s funds. If you remember after the election, he called Abiola and said ‘I will give you your money back…’, so you can see that Abiola was never close to Babangida, he only thought he was.” Alao Aka-Bashorun, 11th October 1993

“There is nothing to celebrate if Abiola came to power. I will not support Abiola taking power. I know him very well, much more than any of you. He was my classmate, but I don’t think he is the Messiah Nigeria is looking for” General Olusegun Obasanjo 1994 (to a Nigerian audience in Harare, Zimbabwe)

“The problem with Abiola is that he is not used to fighting for things. He is often afraid of fighting the system. This is perhaps his first experience at fighting for anything… Let’s say he had succeeded in becoming president last August, the way he would have behaved before all the problems would have been different. He would probably have continued like Babangida” Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, 13th December 1993

“Since the beginning of the process… as we used them [the SDP party machinery] to win the election, we needed them to uphold the mandate. But Abiola was of a different view. The view was that after the election, the party involvement is over. It was now a direct case of the president-to-the-people business. That was one of the things that affected us. Abiola lost the party somewhere along the line” Baba Gana Kingibe, running mate to MKO Abiola in the 1993 elections, 2nd May 1994.

“Really, it is regrettable that the whole June 12 struggle was badly handled, but it only shows that if MKO Abiola had been installed president, his first six months would have been very terrible… The truth is that Abiola is not different from Babangida. In fact, he is the civilian version of Babangida. But then, we must still continue the fight for June 12, not for the sake of Abiola but because of the principle involved” Alao Aka-Bashorun, 20th December 1993

“It is a question of interest, that is class interest, with an Abiola who was likely to be uncontrollable and I think that is why the decadent faction of the Nigerian ruling class that has the army behind it felt that they have to stop Abiola. It is not that Abiola constitutes a threat to their class interest, but they felt they need someone who is more malleable, who is more manageable, who is more controllable and I think that is why they disagree” Femi Falana, 13th September 1993

“On that date, there was nothing like political thugs and no life was lost during election, there was nothing like snatching of ballot boxes and even rain refused to fall though it was a rainy season” Dele Momodu, media campaign manager for MKO, June 10, 2017

“…June 12 will continue to represent a significant milestone in Nigeria’s march to nationhood and democratic maturity, for on that day, national unity won a victory as various ethnic and religious groups decided for the first time to vote together to elect a President.” Olu Falae, former Presidential aspirant, September 1993