For the first time since the annulment of June 12, 1993
presidential election won by the late business mogul, Bashorun MKO Abiola,
former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, has given a reason for
the annulment.
He said he was compelled to nullify the election because of
security threats to the enthronement of a democratic government at that time.
We gathered that Babangida made this disclosure yesterday on
a TV programme, Moments with Mo, anchored by Mo Abudu and broadcast on MNet
channel of DSTV.
Babangida, who described the annulment as “unfortunate” and
revealed that he would launch a book on the saga next year, said having been on
the steering wheel of government at the time, he and the Armed Forces Ruling
Council (AFRC) knew that the new democratic government to be installed would
sooner than later be toppled through another military coup deta’t, which he
said his government wanted to avoid.
According to him, his regime had decided that it would be the last
administration that would ascend the seat of power through coup, adding that it
would make no sense to install a democratic government that would be truncated
within another six months.
He, however, admitted that the June 12 presidential election was
free and fair and also the best of all elections ever conducted in Nigeria’s
history. “June 12 was accepted by Nigerians as the best of elections in
Nigeria. It was free and fair.” “But unfortunately, we cancelled that election.
I used the word unfortunately, for the first time.
We were in government at the time and we knew the possible
consequences of handing over to a democratic government. We did well that we
wanted ours to be the last military coup deta’t. To be honest with you, the
situation was not ripe to hand over at the time.
“Forget about the wrong things that happened in politics. The
issue of security of the nation was a threat and we would have considered
ourselves to have failed, if six months after handover, there was another coup.
I went through coup deta’t and I survived it. “We knew that there would be
another coup deta’t.
But not many people believed what we said. They could have allowed
me to go away and then they (coup plotters) would regroup and stage another
coup. This is how coups are staged – one man will always come to complain. And
he will try to convince you about his complaints,” Babangida said.
He said security threats to the advent of democracy at the time
culminated in fresh plans to conduct another election within another six months
after June 12 annulment, with better strategy, but which he said he could not
achieve as a result of the hostility which accompanied the cancellation.
According to him, another election was conceived to come up in
November 1993. He revealed further that he was determined to conduct another
election which culminated in the constitution of an Interim National Government
(ING), which he noted was eventually toppled by a military coup staged by
General Sani Abacha.
Babangida implied that what happened to the ING was eventually the
fate that would have befallen the civil rule which his regime would have handed
over to.
The former military president said the whole concept of his
regime’s plan to hand over to a civil government was aimed at effecting a
lasting change which could put paid to rigging. This notion, he said resulted
in the decision to register only two political parties, the Social Demoratic
Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC).
“When there are two things, you have an option – this or that or
nothing. We tried to regulate the number of political parties. We knew what to
do,” he said. Babangida, who expressed fears that his revelation might put him
in trouble, was not categorical about his presidential ambition come 2011.
Instead, he played around it, saying he was not getting younger, adding that he
would rather make himself available to make certain corrections whenever he
deems fit.
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