One of late Moshood Abiola’s sons, Lekan Abiola, has declared that former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), may have apologised to the family for invalidating the historic June 12 election believed to have been won by their, but the apology was long overdue.
Lekan revealed this on Thursday, at the MKO Abiola Memorial Symposium and preparations for the launch of a forthcoming book titled “MKO Abiola: Symbol of Democracy”, held in Lagos.
Lekan said the family was reliefed after Babangida’s public acknowledgement and apology.
“We returned from the United States of America, we had met IBB and he has apologised privately to us. When he came out publicly to say that he was sorry for annulling the election and that MKO won the election, he did what he had done privately in public. Every year, he always sends someone to come and represent him here on the June 12 occasion.”
He said the significance of the public apology was symbolic, adding that it was long overdue.
“Before now, for the private apology, there was nothing we could do about that. It is as though someone punched you in public and said sorry in private.”
According to Lekan, Babangida’s public admission has affirmed the legitimacy of MKO Abiola’s electoral victory, putting to rest longstanding doubts and controversy.
“For him to come out publicly to admit that MKO did win the election, makes us feel at ease publicly. This is because some people are always saying: ‘Are we even sure he won the election?’ But now, he (Babangida) has released the full results. Officially, it is now known that MKO won the election, and that is no longer a controversy.”
The late Abiola’s children begged President Bola Tinubu to enact a bill that will officially make June 12 Democracy Day, such that it will become a law and not be subjected to cancellation in the near future.
