The Presidency has debunked recent claims made by former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, alleging that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu supported the annulment of the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election. In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency described Lamido’s comments as false, revisionist, and misrepresented historical facts.
Lamido had, during a live television appearance, claimed that President Tinubu only gained prominence after the formation of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and accused Tinubu’s late mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, of mobilising market women in support of the annulment. The Presidency categorically denied these allegations, insisting that Alhaja Mogaji never endorsed the annulment and that, had she done so, she would have lost her position as market leader in Lagos. It clarified that any previous personal association she had with former President Ibrahim Babangida was unrelated to the annulment crisis.
The statement went further to highlight Lamido’s own role during the political crisis, pointing out that as Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)—the party whose candidate, Chief MKO Abiola, won the June 12 election—Lamido, along with the then party chairman, Tony Anenih, failed to challenge the annulment. According to the Presidency, both men compromised by aligning with the National Republican Convention to deny Abiola his mandate.
In contrast, the Presidency presented Senator Bola Tinubu’s record during the period as one of steadfast resistance against military rule. It cited Tinubu’s speech on the Senate floor on August 19, 1993, following General Babangida’s decision to step aside for an interim government, in which Tinubu described the annulment as a coup d’état and called on Nigerians to resist injustice.
“We have a situation that suggests that the abortion of the June 12 election is another coup d’état,” Tinubu said during the Senate debate. “This is a self-inflicted crisis because, without the abortion or annulment of the June 12 election, there would be no crisis like this… The present military administration, by abrogation and violation of its own decree, has committed a crime.”
Following the military takeover by General Sani Abacha on November 17, 1993, Tinubu and other senators reconvened in Lagos in defiance of the regime. He, along with Senators Ameh Ebute, Abu Ibrahim, and others, was arrested and detained at Alagbon. While in detention, Tinubu was said to have continued funding pro-June 12 protests, including the blockade of the Third Mainland Bridge.
The statement also recounted Tinubu’s continued involvement in the pro-democracy struggle after fleeing into exile following the arrest of MKO Abiola on June 22, 1994. Tinubu’s house was bombed by the junta, and he remained in exile for nearly five years, actively supporting the NADECO movement and other pro-democracy groups like Wole Soyinka’s NALICON.
NADECO, formed on May 15, 1994, was a broad coalition that called on the military government to recognise Abiola’s mandate. Tinubu was recognised as a major contributor to the coalition’s efforts, providing financial and moral support to sustain the movement, both at home and abroad.
According to the statement, Lamido himself acknowledged Tinubu’s involvement in NADECO, but the Presidency criticised him for attempting to downplay or distort the broader context of Tinubu’s democratic activism. It warned that such revisionism does not serve the cause of national unity or truth.
The Presidency suggested that Lamido’s remarks were politically motivated and perhaps driven by envy, referring to what psychologists call “tall poppy syndrome”—a tendency to belittle others’ achievements.
The statement concluded by reaffirming that President Tinubu played a courageous and consistent role in the struggle to validate the June 12 mandate and has remained committed to the democratic ideals that underpin Nigeria’s constitutional order.
