Lekan Abiola, son of the late Moshood Abiola—the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election—has revealed that former military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida privately apologised to the Abiola family for invalidating the election results.
The disclosure was made on Thursday during the MKO Abiola Memorial Symposium in Lagos, an event also focused on the forthcoming launch of a book titled “MKO Abiola: Symbol of Democracy.” Addressing journalists, Lekan said the family had recently returned from the United States and met with Babangida, who expressed remorse in a private setting.
“We returned from the United States of America, we have met IBB and he has apologised privately to us. When he came out publicly to say that he was sorry for annulling the election and that MKO won the election, he did what he had done privately in public,” Lekan stated.
He explained that Babangida’s public apology was a welcome development, as prior to that, the private apology was not publicly acknowledged. “Before now, for the private apology, there was nothing we could do about that. It is as though someone punched you in public and said sorry in private,” he said.
Lekan also emphasized that Babangida’s public admission helped to establish the authenticity of MKO Abiola’s electoral victory, ending years of speculation. “For him to come out publicly to admit that MKO did win the election, makes us feel at ease publicly. This is because some people are always saying: ‘Are we even sure he won the election?’ But now, he (Babangida) has released the full results. Officially, it is now known that MKO won the election, and that is no longer a controversy.”
Furthermore, the Abiola family has called on President Bola Tinubu to pass a law that would officially recognize June 12 as Democracy Day, safeguarding its status as a national holiday.