A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, yesterday said ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo was one of the architects of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was won by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
Kingibe was Abiola’s running mate on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He said although Obasanjo attempted to convene a meeting of statesmen to address the aftermath of the June 12 crisis, President Muhammadu Buhari only attended the inaugural meeting and stopped because of the direction of the session.
Kingibe said Buhari’s position was very clear over the years that the annulment was unjustified.
He said the celebration of June 12 as a Democracy Day should not be an occasion for recriminations or for talking on who betrayed who and who abandoned what.
He said he had never spoken over the years because he was bemused and saddened by the annulment.
Kingibe broke his silence for the first time on the annulment of the election while appearing on a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme.
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He did not give details of the roles Obasanjo played to annul the presidential poll.
He however justified why Buhari opted to honour Abiola.
Kingibe said: “In the aftermath of the annulment, one of the architects of the annulment, former President Olusegun Obasanjo tried to get some elder statesmen (former presidents and so on); I think at the African Leadership Forum to see how the aftermath of the annulment could be addressed or to see how the problems arising from the annulment could be addressed.
“And I think President Muhammadu Buhari did attend the meeting once, the inaugural meeting. I understood that when he (Buhari) saw the direction of the meeting, he decided not to attend again.”