Nigerian former Dictator Babangida Finally Admits MKO Abiola Won June 12 Election

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Former Nigerian military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retd), has admitted that the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola won the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Babangida’s regime had annulled the election before the winner could be officially declared.

He made this revelation in his autobiography, “A Journey in Service,” launched on February 20, 2025, at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

This event coincides with a fundraising initiative for the IBB Presidential Library. “There was no doubt in my mind; MKO Abiola won the election,” he said.

According to the former despot, who spoke through former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Abiola “satisfied all the requirements.”

The event was chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, with President Bola Tinubu serving as the special guest of honour.

Osinbajo reviewed the autobiography.

Babangida stated that M.K.O. Abiola, the Social Democratic Party candidate in the June 12, 1993 presidential election, secured the majority of votes and had the necessary geographical spread to become president. He admitted that annulling the election was the most challenging decision of his life.

He expressed satisfaction that President Muhammadu Buhari later recognized Abiola as the rightful winner of the election and honoured him with the title of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, an honour typically reserved for presidents.

Earlier on Thursday, human rights activist and convener of #RevolutionNow movement, Omoyele Sowore, described Babangida as a murderous dictator who has lived his life in falsehood.

Sowore, a former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), accused Babangida of planning to launch a book of falsehood on Thursday after annulling the June 12, 1993 election, killing popular journalist Dele Giwa via parcel bomb in 1986, murdering hundreds of soldiers.

He said that Babangida in the book was set to falsely blame another military dictator late General Sani Abacha, for the annulment of June 12 election in the book.