Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, has denied allegations made by Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa State, about the involvement of influential politicians in the fight to nullify the presidential election that took place after June 12, 1993.
President Bola Tinubu was a key and active participant from the start, according to Alake, who rejected Lamido’s story as “hagiography and an attempt at revisionism” in an interview with Arise TV on Sunday.
According to a previous story by The Intercept, Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa State, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu did not participate in the early pro-democracy opposition that followed and instead backed the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.
Reacting, Alake, an eyewitness to many of the events, began by recounting the sequence of events that led to the June 12 crisis.
He noted that the initial shock to the nation was the suspension of election results on June 16, 1993, four days after the election.
“Everybody knew MKO Abiola was coasting home to victory,” Alake stated, recalling a moment with MKO Abiola in his Ikeja, Lagos home where Abiola was settling debts, declaring, “He didn’t want to get into the presidency with debt.”
The final blow, the total cancellation of the election results, came on June 23, plunging Nigeria into a political struggle.
According to Alake, following the annulment announcement, Tinubu “threw his hat into the ring.”
He provided a detailed account of Tinubu’s immediate involvement, including an instance where Tinubu facilitated air clearance for MKO Abiola’s aircraft to land in Katsina to commiserate with the Yar’Adua family, even as then-military President Ibrahim Babangida was also flying there.
Alake emphasised that upon MKO Abiola’s return to Lagos after the cancellation announcement, it was Tinubu he immediately contacted to “start the preparations for the onslaught against that unjustified announcement.”
Alake particularly challenged Lamido’s perceived absence in the early days of the protests.
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He asserted Tinubu’s role in the foundational stages of the pro-democracy movement.
“I can tell you authoritatively because I was part and parcel of the protest, the planning and execution.
“Tinubu was one of the funders and one of the organisers, one of the planners of all the protests, June, July 23, 24, 25 of 1993 against the annulment,” Alake stated directly, underscoring Tinubu’s commitment long before the Abacha regime came to power.
The minister went on to describe Tinubu’s role in the attempts to reinstate the June 12 mandate following General Sani Abacha’s appointment on November 17, 1993.
Alake disclosed that after MKO Abiola took office, Tinubu accompanied him to a meeting with Abacha.
“Asiwaju Tinubu was the one that escorted MKO to go and see Abacha to negotiate how Abacha would relinquish office and hand over to MKO,” Alake said, adding that he was a “living witness” to the crafting of this meeting the night before.
