#JUNE12: Tinubu Led APC Government Betrayed Democracy, Heroes Died in Vain — Obi-dient Movement

 To all Nigerians, civil society organizations, and stakeholders in democracy,

Chief MKO Abiola 
Casting his vote in 
1993

The Bola Ahmed Tinubu led APC federal government of Nigeria has without doubt betrayed democracy in all ramifications.

His crookery emergency and leadership right from the word go damaged more the principles and any known democratic tenents. The emergency of APC leadership since 2015 has been a course both on Nigerians and democracy as a  system of governance.

Nigeria as it's today, the poverty capital of the whole wide world, citizens do no longer care even if military should take over as the current Tinubu led APC government foisted hardship on the majority, untamed inflation, insecurities, lost of values of our national currencies. Maximum suffering for greater numbers of people. It is indeed a government of renewed hopelessness.

Misplacement of priority in term of diversion of subsidies and other national resources for the benefits of the very few minority living in affluence as majority are wallowing in abject poverty. The legislators only representing themselves and not the Nigerians that elected them. Rubber stamps of the executive.

Democracy thrive on party system and party politics, Tinubu, a NADECO leader has ensure the crippling of major opposition parties in the country. Truly the heroes of struggles died in Vain unless Nigerians rise and save this country from Tinubu led rouges as future of any credible, free fair elections seems doom under Him.

Therefore, we, Obi-dient Group - Oyo State note with deep concern the persistent challenges to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria. The countinous June 12 anniversary celebrations will not be meaningful, if what our real heroes of democracy fought for are what we have been experiencing under APC evil leadership.

The right to vote and have one's vote counted is fundamental to democracy. APC undermine this since it's emergence in 2015 with  vrious forms of electoral malpractices, voter suppression, and lack of transparency in the conduct of the elections and final results coalition.

Going forward to 2027, we call on all stakeholders to:

1. *Ensure transparent, free , fair and credible electoral processes. Only an electoral reform that mandatorily ensure the use of electronics voting, recording and transmitting results in real time can guarantee that elections are free from manipulation and reflect the genuine will of the people.

2. *Strengthen electoral institutions*: Support the independency and effectiveness of electoral bodies. The appointment of the officers of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must be taken away from the Mr president. The legislatures through a special duty committee or commission should be in charge of screening of applicants and recommending such to the national assembly.

3. *Promote voter education and participation*: Educate citizens on their voting rights and encourage participation in electoral processes.

4. *Hold leaders accountable*: Demand that elected officials prioritize the interests of their constituents and uphold democratic principles.

Nigerians must be ready to work together in the face of the oppressive civilian regime if Tinubu led APC to build a more inclusive and democratic Nigeria where every vote counts and the voices of the masses are heard. Where the government will be established and sustained on the basic principles of popular participation, popular support, good governance and respect for rule of law.

Obi-dient Movement - Oyo State

Opinion: Nigeria did not survive June 12 Annulment, We are still bleeding, still crawling through the rubble of the destruction

Ibrahim Babangida’s recent confession, finally admitting that Chief M.K.O. Abiola won the 1993 presidential election has reopened an old wound, a wound that never truly healed.

With a boldness only those unburdened by consequence can possess, he claims that "democracy was interrupted, but Nigeria survived." But the question that burns in the heart of every true patriot is this: How did Nigeria survive?

Did Nigeria survive in the blood of those who were gunned down during the protests for June 12?

Did Nigeria survive in the cries of mothers who lost their children to bullets while demanding the return of their mandate?

Did Nigeria survive in the agony of a nation forced into the shadows of military tyranny while the will of the people was mocked and discarded?

When Babangida and his circle of power annulled the freest and fairest election in our nation’s history, they did not interrupt democracy, they killed it.

They did not merely pause the democratic journey, they derailed it into a pit of authoritarian darkness. And in that darkness, we lost more than an election; we lost trust, we lost hope, and we lost countless lives.

Who survived when our democracy was strangled? Was it the average Nigerian struggling under the weight of economic hardship? Was it the families who were thrown into deeper poverty as corruption became the order of the day? 

Was it the voices silenced, the press muzzled, and the hopes shattered in the years that followed? 

No, they did not survive.

What Babangida and his cohorts fail to admit is that their actions did not just "interrupt" democracy, they plunged Nigeria into a cycle of political instability, poverty, and institutional decay from which we are yet to recover.

That single act of injustice in 1993 birthed a monster, a monster that still haunts our democracy today, where elections are a game for the elite while the masses remain pawns in their ruthless ambition.

And what of Chief M.K.O. Abiola? A man who stood for Hope, Democracy, and Freedom, a man who won the people’s mandate, only to be robbed of it. He died a prisoner of conscience, his dream of a better Nigeria buried with him. Tell me, Babangida did Abiola survive?

Nigeria did not survive. We are still bleeding. We are still crawling through the rubble of the destruction you caused.

We are still paying the price for your greed, your power hunger, and your contempt for the will of the people.

So, spare us your riddles, your justifications, your carefully crafted lines. Nigeria did not survive, you killed something precious in us. And until justice is done, until truth is fully spoken, until those responsible acknowledge the true scale of their crimes, this nation will remain haunted by the ghost of June 12, a ghost that refuses to be silenced.

How did Nigeria survive? The answer is simple: IT DIDN'T.

Credit: Khaleed Yazeedu

Former Military President Babangida Finally Admits MKO Abiola Won June 12, 1993, Presidential Election

Says Northern Emirs, Rulers Forced Me To Annul June 12, Implicates David Mark, Abacha, Dogoyaro

Nigerian Former military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has confirmed that the late Chief Moshood Abiola won the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election. 

Trying to rewrite the history after most of the actors are gone to the world beyond, Babangida made the revelation in his autobiography, A Journey in Service, launched in Abuja on Thursday.

Through the book’s reviewer, former Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, he acknowledged that Abiola, who contested under the Social Democratic Party (SDP), secured the majority of votes and the required geographical spread to emerge as president. 

Describing the annulment as the most challenging decision of his life, Babangida stated: “There was no doubt in my mind; MKO Abiola won the election. He satisfied all the requirements.”

He, however, expressed satisfaction that former President Muhammadu Buhari posthumously honoured Abiola with the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), a title reserved for presidents.

They will kill me; they will kill the President Elect, Chief MKO Abiola if I went ahead with the election and announced the winner of the elections which we all know to be Bashorun, Chief MKO Abiola.

''I know so; I am not daft. He won; he tried. I feel bad about the whole matter. Professor, I do not see how they will spare you because they know you are my principal confidant. You think they do not know you? They know; they know you are with me now. They saw you coming in and they know you are with me now I cannot kill myself for the sake of what the country wants. I am sorry,'' IBB lamented. It was astonishing to hear a General stating that he could not lay down his life for his country.

It was clear that General Babangida was in a fix as of June 21st 1993. I then proceeded to deal with the questions of who were these “they” and for what reasons would they want to kill the President and the President Elect if the June 12 election were allowed to go forward. He named them in military and in ethnic categories:

''Sani (meaning General Sani Abacha) is opposed to a return to civilian rule. Sani cannot stand the idea of Chief Abiola, a Yoruba becoming his Commander- in- Chief; Sani seems to have the ears of the Norhern leaders that no Southerner especially from the South West should become the President of the country. Sani seems to rally the Northern elders to confront me on the matter. He is winning; the Sultan and the Northern leaders are of this frame of mind.''

''Where do I go from here? They do not trust me. Without Sani, I will not be alive today; without the North, I would not have become an officer in the Nigerian Army and now the President of Nigeria I don’t want to appear ungrateful to Sani; he may not be bright upstairs but he knows how to overthrow governments and overpower coup plotters. He saw to my coming to office in 1985 and to my protection in the many coups I faced in the past, especially the Orkar coup of 1990 where he saved me and my family including my infant daughter.”

''Sani risked his life to get me into office in 1983 and 1985; if he says he does not want Chief Abiola, I will not force Chief Abiola on him.'' 

He also named Lt General Dongoyaro and Brigadier General David Mark as those who were against Chief Abiola. In fact, he quoted David Mark as saying: I’d shoot Chief Abiola the day NEC( National Electoral Commission) pronounces him the elected President!

See the Photos - Reason I stood behind Chief MKO Abiola on this day in 1993 - Omoyele Sowore

The National Chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC) Omoyele Sowore has revealed the real Reasons he stood behind Chief MKO Abiola on this day in 1993.

Sowore who is the Publisher of an online news media Sahara Reporters contested for the highest position in the land against the incumbent Nigeria's President Major General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 general elections.

Here are the revelations he made today 29th August 2021 on why he was standing behind the winner of the June 12th 1993 presidential election, Late MKO Abiola: 

The real story: Inside his expansive living room on Toyin Street in Ikeja, we were ushered into a gathering of politicians holding a “strategy session” to ask MKO Abiola to tone down his challenge against General Ibrahim Babangida and his military cohorts after they annulled Nigeria’s freest election held on June 12 1993. I was obviously the “poorest” person in the room on that fateful day (I had on bathroom slippers). 

It was my first time meeting  Chief Abiola in person but he recognised me and said “oh Student leader, welcome to our meeting what should we do now as my friends have annulled the People’s mandate.?

 I quickly took the opportunity to lambast the politicians seated. I told Chief Abiola his real enemies are right there in the room with him and that they just busy collecting his money but not fighting forbthe restoration of his mandate. Chief Abiola was uncomfortable and tried changing the topic by  praising my organising efforts in fighting for the restoration of his June 12 mandate. He quickly dragged a massive bag containing cash and proceeded to give our team N800k saying it was a token for our “transportation.”

 I politely rejected the cash haul telling him, jocularly, that first we didn’t come to visit him in a jumbo jet so the issue of a jumbo transportation fund won’t arise, in fact I doubt that the SUG bus we took there was worth N300k in those days,  I was firm im telling him our struggle wasn’t for his sake and that our fight was not for him but the future of Nigeria. 

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) did not even believe in Babangida’s transition program but our position regarding democratic rule though was sacrosanct hence our position on the criminal annulment of the June 12 elections. 

Having done my little damage to the greedy politicians in Abiola’s living room (don’t forget so many of them were clutching to cash hauls collected from Abiola right there) our team decided to leave but something rare happened, Chief Anthony Enahoro who was also in attendance angrily got up and told Chief Abiola he too was leaving that he shared the position of the students, in a split second  Abiola stood up and decided he would escort us to our bus, a decision that left his guests bewildered. 

When we got outside, ChannelsTV  owner, John Momoh and one of his reporters, Kingsley Uranta were outside waiting for an interview. Abiola asked that I hang around and hear what he wants to say snd I said, “that’s good Chief,  if you’re now ready to fight I will stand behind you!”

Fake Democrats: Sowore Slams Ekiti Governor, Fayemi For Praising Ex-Military Dictator, IBB On 80th Birthday

Human rights’ activist and Amnesty International designated Prisoner of Conscience, Omoyele Sowore, has lambasted the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, for describing former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, as a patriotic and dedicated leader committed to the Nigerian project.

Fayemi had in a birthday message on Facebook in honour of Babaginda, who clocked 80 this week said, “I join the rest of the country to celebrate former head of state and elder statesman, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), on his 80th birthday. 

“Gen. Babangida has demonstrated his patriotism, dedication and commitment to the Nigeria project as a soldier and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. 

“May Almighty Allah grant you wisdom and grace to enjoy this special day to the fullest, and to continue to make meaningful contributions to our dear country. Ameen.” 

Commenting on the Facebook post, Sowore described the governor and others like him as fake democrats. 

He said, “John Kayode Fayemi, Femi Fani-Kayode and Atiku are all among the fake democrats and rogues sending IBB, a well-known coupist and enemy of democracy birthday goodwill messages. Shame. 

“It is so sad to think that Kayode Fayemi was a member of the pro-democracy movement; he was one of the people masquerading as democracy “fighters” living abroad while Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida smothered the future of Nigeria by annulling the June 12 presidential election in 1993. 

“Fayemi and others were probably working for Babangida in those days while we as students and youths in Nigeria were moving from prison to prison. Tueh! Now we know! #RevolutionNow.” 

Known as Maradona, Babangida was born on August 17, 1941.

He was Nigeria’s military president between August 1985 and 1993.

IBB led the coup of August 1985 to topple Muhammadu Buhari who was then the Head of State from December 31, 1983.

At the time of the coup, Babangida was the Chief of Army Staff.

The dictator also annulled the June 12, 1993 election.

The election, which was keenly contested by the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, the late MKO Abiola; and the Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention, and said to have been won by Abiola, was adjudged as the most transparent election in Nigeria’s political history.

But the poll was declared a nullity by the military regime led by Babangida.