Former military ruler, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), has said late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola won the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Babangida launched his autobiography, ‘A Journey in Service’, in Abuja on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
Speaking at the book launch, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said General Babangida (rtd) admitted that the late Abiola won the June 12, 1993 Presidential election.
MKO Abiola was detained for four years, after making an attempt to assert himself as the elected president. He would later die unexpectedly, shortly after the demise of General Sani Abacha, on the day that he was due to be released from detention.
While reviewing Babangida’s new book, Osinbajo quoted the former military leader in his book that if he had to do it all over again, he would do it differently.
He said: “He (Babangida) also answers the question of whether Abiola actually won the June 12 election, and I quote him, ‘although I am on record to have stated after the election that Abiola may not have won the election, upon deeper reflection and a closer examination of all available facts, particularly the detailed election results, which are published as an appendix to this book, there was no doubt that MKO Abiola won the June 12 elections’.”
Many leaders, past and present, in the country and beyond, including President Bola Tinubu; ex-president Goodluck; former Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo; a former head of state Yakubu Gowon; Abdulsalami Abubakar among others in the country and beyond attended Babangida’s attended the event.
