Presidency Blames Elites For Cancellation Of MKO’s Election

Hardly Does The Elite Join Hands In The Good Of The Nation – Shehu Claims

The Presidency on Sunday revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari has not been on the favourable part of the elites because of his performance in the office.

Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, who stated this in an opinion titled, “June 12 tsunami and the ones who won’t forgive Buhari,” blamed the elite for the cancellation of the MKO’s June 12, 1993 presidential election widely believed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

Shehu claimed that in the history of Nigeria, hardly had the nation had the elite joining hands for the good of the nation.

He said an old Chinese proverb, “Do good, reap good; do evil, reap evil,” spoke about that attack on Buhari on his decision to honour the heroes of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

He cited media practitioners and those in the judiciary as part of those who would be angry with the President on the matter.

The presidential spokesman added, “Even at that time, it was pretty obvious that the unjust annulment was a huge elite conspiracy, well beyond the schemes and machinations, for which the then Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, had established a formidable reputation.

“June 12 annulment was inspired and supported in spirit, cash and in kind by high-level citizens who saw an opportunity for themselves and cashed in upon it.

“Beyond the coterie of two dozen or so military officials whose names have been documented as literally having had a gun to the head of their Commander-in-Chief in trying to induce the annulment, there were tens, possibly hundreds of co-conspirators who either forced the annulment in one way or the other, or joined the sustenance of the injustice done to Abiola and the Nigerian voters which, from then evolved into an industry of a kind, supplying incomes and conferring privileges of state upon those in the plot.

“Many have forgotten by now that an interim government was contemplated at that time and a number of retired army generals were in the queue, having been invited to get ready to head it.

“There was the foremost social scientist of the Yoruba stock who prophesied to the then rulers, on the day the announcement of election results was suspended that ‘the Yoruba will not be angry with the Head of State if he will go ahead to annul the election.’ Then he did it.

“In the media, there were many who conspired against the June 12, including the publisher who told their editors not to ‘lose your heads over this June 12. After all, was it not Abiola who thwarted the ambitions of …?’

“In the Nigerian Guild of Editors, where I was one of the three vice-presidents at that time, rising to become the full occupant of the office a few years later, we had our own battles.

“For example, when the Vanguard Newspaper correctly quoted me as asking that Abiola be freed or, in the least, be tried in court because detention without trial, even under the military was wrong, newspapers, both of them now out of print circulation, the New Nigerian (which still maintains an online presence) and Today, lambasted me for expressing that view. Their editors, themselves members of the executive committee of the NGE said in a counter statement that those views were not of the Guild since, as they said, the organisation hadn’t met to take a position on the matter.

“If you are counting the large number of Nigerians united by that annulment, and who must now be very, very angry with President Buhari for righting that wrong which nourished them, one must not leave out the men and women in the temple of justice who used one subterfuge or the other to keep June 12 buried and its biggest symbol, MKO Abiola, in detention until his end came (or was induced). Naturally, there is also the fear of the unknown. What will come after this?”

The presidential spokesman recalled that since the annulment, no past administration in 25 years had asked why was the election annulled, who annulled it and what were the consequences?

He added that no government had ascertained the number of people the nation lost to the annulment beyond Abiola and his late wife, Kudirat, how much was lost in terms of economy and how much damage it caused the nation.

However, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights has said the Federal Government must go beyond the claim that the elite were responsible for the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election.

The group said the government must unmask those personalities and investigate them as necessary.

Malachy Ugwummadu, the CDHR President, said, “The Federal Government has access to classified documents on the June 12 election. The government must tell us who these greedy self-serving elites are. The government must name them. We all know that some greedy elites and corrupt military men were responsible for the annulment.

“The government holds Nigerians the responsibility to set history straight and correct the ills of a misadventure which has spanned 25 years. We cannot afford to continue with speculations.”

Also, the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership urged the Federal Government to go beyond naming those behind the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.

Debo Adeniran, CACOL’s Director, said they should be arrested and prosecuted to serve as deterrent to other anti-democratic elements in future and to do justice to the victims of the action, particularly those who lost their lives in the struggles for the realisation of the pan-Nigeria mandate given to Abiola and Kingibe.

He said, “The Federal Government must carry out further investigations and apprehend anyone who had taken money to abort that election. They must be prosecuted accordingly. We have known from the outset that the annulment was a conspiracy by some elites. Basically, what the government should do is to move to the level of prosecution.”

But Shehu said only Buhari could decide whether to probe the annulment or not.

“Now, would there be an inquisition into all of the things that happened? I have not been briefed if there is going to be any. Neither have I heard of any discussions on this. I cannot, therefore, speculate.

“Should anyone be afraid? Our very erudite and sharp minister, Lai Mohammed, said no Nigerian should fear for their rights under President Buhari, unless they are guilty of wrongdoing.

“I haven’t still mastered the art of predicting army Generals, not even this one. On this question, only the President can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ if there will be a probe as many have been clamouring for.

“Understandably, anger against the new Democracy Day and honour to Abiola in a few quarters, the intensity of attack on President’s person would mount as the momentum he gains becomes manifest, even as we recognise that the opposition has been gearing up for the offensive towards 2019 elections,” he said.

Shehu called the attention of those who annulled the election and all those that helped to sustain the injustice to another old Chinese proverb, “all relationships have happy endings; if not happy, then it is not the end.”

He described the resurrection of June 12 as the beginning of a new chapter in the annals of Nigerian history, adding that it was premature to say how it would end.

Shehu insisted that Buhari had not been in the good reckoning of a vocal section of the country’s elite because of his performance in office.

Although Shehu did not mention names, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been in the forefront of the anti-Buhari campaign, asking the President not to seek re-election over alleged non-performance and nepotism.

Shehu said the unnamed elite ganging up against Buhari knew that they would lose once corruption-free governance was put in place and economic growth was guaranteed as the President was doing.

Shehu said, “In normal times, even before the shocking masterstroke honouring Abiola, President Buhari is a leader who had not been in the good reckoning of a powerful, very vocal section of the country’s elite.”