Foremost human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has stated that former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, deliberately truncated the June 12, 1993, presidential election process in a bid to remain in power.
Falana made the claims in a recent interview that surfaced online on Thursday evening, where he offered fresh insights into the annulment of what is widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest election.
According to him, Babangida had no intention of relinquishing power after years of military rule but instead sought to transition into a civilian president.
“It was an attempt to, you know, again, Babangida was not going to go. He wasn’t going to leave power,” Falana said. “He wanted to metamorphose from a military dictator into a civilian.”
He explained that although Babangida had ruled for eight years, he had initially created a controlled political environment by banning several politicians before introducing two government-created political parties — the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC).
“See, he was banning everybody until he ran into a problem. So when he became comfortable, he had banned most politicians,” Falana said.
“He then became comfortable when the two parties decreed by him —.NRC and SDP —produced two of his friends.”
Falana identified the candidates as Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola of the SDP and Bashir Tofa of the NRC.
“So he was comfortable. I’m sure he was expecting either of them to stand down for him if they won,” he added.
However, Falana noted that the situation changed when it became clear that announcing the election results would signal the end of military rule.
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“But what happened was that he didn’t want the results of the election announced because that would have been the end of military rule,” he said. “So midway into the declaration of the results, he stopped it. He used the court to stop it.”
Falana also dismissed Babangida’s oft-cited justification that his “hands were tied” in annulling the election.
“But he said his hands were tied. No, his hands were not tied. He tied his own hands. His ambition tied his own hands,” Falana said. “I mean, how can a soldier say your hands are tied? Our own hands were not tied as civilians.”
He further revealed that pro-democracy activists, under the aegis of the Campaign for Democracy, took steps to counter the government’s actions by publishing the election results independently.
“But what happened was that once the results were concluded, the election results were known,” he said.
“Under the Campaign for Democracy then, led by the late Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, they called a meeting. And we decided at the meeting that we were going to publish the results of the election. And we did.”
Falana explained that despite the government’s ban on announcing the results, activists went ahead to make them public.
“Privately, independently? No, the government had banned the announcement of the results. But since we had the results, we published it,” he said.
He also credited the then Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Humphrey Nwosu, as the source of the election results.
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“It was Humphrey Nwosu, I think. Yes. He was the head of the National Electoral Commission,” Falana stated.
The June 12, 1993 election, believed to have been won by Abiola, was annulled by the Babangida-led military government, triggering widespread protests and a prolonged political crisis that shaped Nigeria’s democratic journey.
Recall that in his memoir, A Journey In Service, launched at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja on Thursday, February 20, 2025, Babangida blamed the late dictator General Sani Abacha for the annulment of the 1993 presidential election and accused him of plotting to overthrow his government violently.
In the 420-page book, Babangida delves into the controversies surrounding the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, which was won by the late MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He described the annulment as an “accident of history” and expressed deep regret over the incident.
