PERSPECTIVE: The Six Men Who Annulled June 12 Election, As Told By Olunloyo

President Bola Tinubu and former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, have taken off the gloves, opting for bare knuckles, in a duel over the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

The president and the ex governor have taken their reputational fight to the public over an unfortunate event that occurred some 32 years ago.

Lamido drew the first blood during an interview with Arise Television on Saturday.

In the said interview, Lamido questioned Tinubu’s bona fides, accusing the former Lagos governor of supporting the annulment of the election.

The election was won by a billionaire business man and philanthropist, Moshood Abiola.

According to Lamido, Tinubu was “a major supporter” of former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, who annulled the election.

Lamido had added, “Luckily, we were all alive. We were all there and participants in that affair of political history. I was in the middle of it.

“With all respect to him, he was part of those people who supported Babangida’s annulment of June 12. He was part of them.

“His own mother, Haija Mogaji from Lagos, organised the Lagos market women to Abuja to support Babangida.

“I am saying this because it is history. I mean no harm or disrespect.”

Lamido’s jab could be quite damaging to the president’s reputation, considering the fact that the ex Jigawa governor was the National Secretary of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) on which platform Abiola won the election.

But Tinubu fired back at Lamido, accusing him of distorting history and engaging in revisionism with false narratives.

In a verbose riposte on Sunday, scripted by Tinubu’s media adviser, Bayo Onanuga, the president reaffirmed his pivotal role in the struggle to revalidate the June 12 election.

Onanuga said rather, Lamido, as the National Secretary of the defunct SDP, was one of those who failed to oppose the annulment of the election by then military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida.

Onanuga stated, “The SDP leadership, including Lamido and chairman, Tony Anenih, wrote their names in the book of infamy by surrendering the people’s mandate without resistance. To their eternal shame, Lamido and Anenih teamed up with the defeated National Republican Convention to deny Abiola his mandate.

“In sharp contrast, Senator Bola Tinubu stood firm even before General Abacha dissolved the political parties and all democratic institutions, including the National Assembly, on November 17, 1993, following his coup.

“On the Senate floor on August 19, 1993, Tinubu unequivocally condemned the annulment, describing it as another coup d’état and urging Nigerians to reject injustice and lawlessness.

“The records captured his contribution, showing that he supported upholding the June 12 election, not against it, as Lamido claimed.”

Observers have however, chalked down Lamido’s attack on Tinubu to part of opposition politics targeted at discomfitting the president and scoring political goals for the opposition camp.

Lamido is a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and one of the leaders of an emerging coalition who have vowed to rout Tinubu and his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the 2027 poll.

They wondered why it took Lamido 32 years after the annulment of the election to state his claims on Tinubu’s alleged support for the annulment.

SADBOY: Olunloyo’s Formula For Six Individuals Who Allegedly Annulled June 12

Dr Omololu Olunloyo was a former governor of Oyo State in the Second Republic. He was elected in 1983 on the platform of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

Olunloyo “defeated” Bola Ige who was elected in 1979 on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

The 1983 general election, conducted by the NPN administration under President Shehu Shagari, was widely reputed to be far less credible than any election ever organised by the NURTW.

The December 31,1983 military coup however, cleared the putrid stench of the politics of that era. It replaced it with a more suffocating one, led by General Muhammadu Buhari.

In a post annulment encounter with Olunloyo in 1993, he did a dissection on six powerful individuals he claimed were the brains behind the annulment of the June 12 election.

The renown mathematician and a wizard in the coven of mathematics, so to speak, had come up with a formula with an acronym – SADBOY, to list six individuals he claimed actively participated in the annullment of June 12. He couched the acronym with the first letters in their last names – SADBOY:

S – Shonekan, Ernest
A – Abacha, Sani
D – Danjuma, Theophilus
B – Babangida, Ibrahim
O – Obasanjo, Olusegun
Y – Yar’ Adua, Shehu

Shonekan: According to Olunloyo, Shonekan, had, during the inertia after the election, reached out to Babangida offering to head an interim government that was clearly to invalidate Abiola’s election. His wish was granted as he was eventually named the Head of the Interim Government.

Abacha: The mathematician said Abacha, who was Defence Minister under Babangida, was vehement in his insistence that Abiola must not become president. That his opposition to Abiola presidency came with potent threats. Abacha subsequently sacked Shonekan and took over as Head of State.

Danjuma: He was Chief of Army Staff from 1976-1979 while Obasanjo was military Head of State during the period. He later bacame Minister of Defence when Obasanjo was elected president in 1999.

Babangida: Olunloyo described him as the annuller-in-chief. According to him, Babangida was not ready to hand over power to Abiola or any other person for that matter. Babangida had wanted to stay on, but that the threats from Abacha forced him to step aside.

Obasanjo: Olunloyo stated without equivocation, that Obasanjo never wanted Abiola to be president. This was evident in Obasanjo’s declaration in far away Zimbabwe, where he was attending an event at the time. “Abiola isn’t the Messiah Nigeria needs,” Obasanjo had declared. He was jailed by Abacha for alleged complicity in a coup plot. He came out of prison following Abacha’s death on June 8, 1998. With the backing of Babangida, Danjuma and others, Obasanjo got elected as president in 1999.

Yar’ Adua: He was the Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters from 1976-1979 when Obasanjo was military Head of State. Yar’ Adua was one of the leading presidential candidates during the early stages of Babangida’s transition programme. But he was one of the politicians Babangida banned from participating in politics. Abiola joined the SDP after Yar’ Adua was banned. The two were business partners. Yar’ Adua had wanted Abiola to pick Atiku Abubakar as his running mate on the SDP ticket. But Abiola picked Babagana Kingibe instead. Abacha jailed Yar’ Adua in 1995 for alleged coup plot. He died on December 8, 1997 while still serving his prison sentence.

Dr Olulonyo died on April 6, 2025 at the age of 89.

PERSPECTIVE: The Six Men Who Annulled June 12 Election, As Told By Olunloyo is first published on The Whistler Newspaper