Sule Lamido, former Jigawa State Governor, stirred the hornet’s nest at the weekend when he claimed that President Bola Tinubu had a hand in the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election.
And now a fresh political dispute has erupted between the Presidency and him over the events surrounding the annulment of that election.
In a statement issued on Sunday by Presidential spokesman Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency strongly refuted Lamido’s claim that President Tinubu supported the annulment of the June 12 election—an election widely regarded as the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history, won by Chief MKO Abiola.
Onanuga described Lamido’s statements as “a distortion of history and a regrettable attempt at revisionism,” particularly the accusation that Tinubu only became relevant after the formation of NADECO and that his mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mobilized market women to support the annulment.
“These allegations are patently false,” the statement asserted. “Alhaja Mogaji never mobilized support for the annulment. If she had, she would have lost her position as market leader in Lagos. Her relationship with President Babangida ended before the crisis began.”
Onanuga accused Lamido—who was the National Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) at the time—of being part of the party leadership that failed to resist the military’s actions. According to him, both Lamido and then-SDP Chairman Tony Anenih “surrendered the people’s mandate without resistance,” effectively collaborating with the rival National Republican Convention.
The statement highlighted Tinubu’s condemnation of the annulment on the floor of the Senate on August 19, 1993, describing the action as a “coup d’état” and urging Nigerians to reject the injustice. Records from the Senate debates were cited to support this, where Tinubu decried the military’s abuse of power and called for the upholding of the June 12 mandate.
Following General Abacha’s takeover on November 17, 1993, which dissolved all democratic institutions, Tinubu and a group of senators attempted to reconvene in Lagos and were arrested by the police. Even while in detention, Tinubu reportedly continued to support pro-democracy protests, including the blockade of the Third Mainland Bridge.
After Abiola’s arrest in June 1994, Tinubu fled into exile and became a prominent figure in the newly formed National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which campaigned against military rule and advocated for the recognition of the June 12 mandate. According to Onanuga, Tinubu not only played a central role in NADECO but also provided financial support to other activists and to the international arm of the struggle led by Prof. Wole Soyinka.
The Presidency accused Lamido of historical revisionism, suggesting he may be driven by envy of Tinubu’s democratic credentials. “We do not want to believe that Alhaji Lamido suffers from what psychologists call tall poppy syndrome,” Onanuga said. “But the facts remain clear: President Tinubu was—and remains—a steadfast advocate for democracy, unlike Lamido and others who capitulated under military pressure.”
Meanwhile, Sule Lamido, who served as SDP National Secretary during the June 12 crisis, had in a recent interview dismissed Tinubu’s democratic credentials as exaggerated and self-serving.
“I feel highly entertained by Tinubu’s rhetoric—the way he dramatizes his own role in Nigerian democracy,” Lamido said.
“We were all there. Tinubu became relevant only after Abacha took over.”
Lamido went further to accuse Tinubu of being among those who supported the annulment, even claiming that Tinubu’s mother organized Lagos market women to Abuja in support of Babangida.
“I mean no disrespect, but this is history,” Lamido stated. “He was hand-in-glove with Babangida at the time. All those NADECO activists, where were they on June 11? They became visible only after Abacha came in.”
Lamido also criticised Tinubu for fleeing into exile during the military crackdown, while, according to him, others remained in the country to resist the junta. He concluded by saying he is willing to join any political coalition formed to remove Tinubu from office in 2027.
