Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, was highly praised on Thursday as President Bola Tinubu, along with former presidents, military leaders, and business figures like Alhaji Aliko Dangote, took turns to honor him at the launch of his autobiography, “A Journey in Service.”
The event also marked the opening of Babangida’s presidential library.
According to The Vanguard, the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja was filled with important guests who came to celebrate him and hear his thoughts on the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election.
Some of the dignitaries present included former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who chaired the occasion, as well as former Heads of State Generals Yakubu Gowon and Abdulsalami Abubakar, and former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Also in attendance were former Vice Presidents Atiku Abubakar, Namadi Sambo, and Yemi Osinbajo. Other notable figures included Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate and former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate and former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The keynote speaker was former Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, and the former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma, was also at the event.
Governors, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, business leaders, experts, and traditional rulers were also present.
During the event, General Babangida explained why he canceled the June 12, 1993, presidential election, which many believe was the fairest in Nigeria’s history.
He admitted that Chief MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won the election by defeating Alhaji Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC). However, he said he annulled the election because he feared for Abiola’s safety and worried that Nigeria could fall into another civil war.
Babangida said that the decision to cancel the election was strongly influenced by powerful figures in his government, including the late General Sani Abacha, who was his Chief of Army Staff and later became Minister of Defence.
Despite this, Babangida accepted full responsibility for the annulment, saying that as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, the final decision was his. He admitted that the military did not fully understand how serious the consequences of their actions would be.
In his book “A Journey in Service,” Babangida reflected on the election results and said that after carefully reviewing all the facts, he realized that MKO Abiola had indeed won the election.
He said, “I read somewhere, I believe, in one of Abiola’s newspapers that Abiola thought that the moment these ‘friends’ overthrew me, the elections would be de-annulled and that he would be installed as President by his coup-plotting friends. As it turned out, Abiola was advised by these same ‘friends’ to leave the country to avoid death threats from fictitious military elements.”
Further talking, he said, “Abiola’s departure paved the way for his ‘friends’ to consolidate their conspiratorial positions, eventually leading to another military takeover. Without question, one of my biggest headaches at this time was Sani Abacha. I knew that Abacha was ambivalent about a return to civil rule. But I thought, in retrospect now, naively, that he would support our transition to the civil rule programme.
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