Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB, Nigeria’s former Military Head of State, has revealed that his annulment of the June 12 presidential election followed his fear that late chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner might not lead Nigeria effectively as president.
IBB said that the then Nigerian Nigeria military was divided into agitating groups with some in support of a handover to civil rule while others countered, clamouring that the status quo of military rulership be maintained.
This is contained in his just launched book, ‘A Journey in Service’, wherein IBB recounted the tensions in the country, heightened by conspiracy theories to justify the annulment.
The former Military Head of State said: “Tensions in the country were compounded by baseless conspiracy theories meant to justify the annulment. One such theory was that Abiola had pencilled down a list of top military officers to be dismissed upon assuming office as president.
“Another conspiracy theory was that the government had let the June 12 elections go ahead in the knowledge, based on security reports, that Tofa would
win. However, once Abiola won, the government sought a way to
frustrate his mandate.
“These were spurious theories circulated by those opposed to an Abiola presidency. Some persons indeed expressed their reservations about an Abiola presidency before the elections. There were times
when, deep down inside me, even I feared that Abiola might not be an effective president.
“However, having allowed the process to go ahead in which Abiola appeared to have emerged victorious in an
election deemed the freest and fairest in our country’s history, I was committed to ensuring that the results should stand. To do otherwise would amount to a subversion of the will of the Nigerian people.”