The June 12, 1993 presidential election was a political contest where Nigerians spoke with one voice, but ironically it was annulled by the military administration led by General Ibrahim Babangida. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines why the election remains unique in the annals of Nigerian history.
MILITARY President Ibrahim Babangida’s transition programme came to a standstill when the June 12, 1993 presidential election was aborted. The election was the climax of Babangida’s long transition programme. Two parties, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were floated in 1991, in the military president’s view, to create a level-playing for all participants. Existing political parties were proscribed in the run down to the emergence of the NRC and the SDP. Politicians who intended to contest elections during the period were banned and unbanned. Analysts said the annulment of the June 12 election was the last straw that broke the camel’s back in Babangida’s bid to perpetuate himself to power.
When Banangida gave his words that the NRC and the SDP had come to stay, politicians who were waiting in the wings joined the fray. In the wake of this, Bashorun Moshood Abiola, known for his strong business and philanthropic acumen, joined the race under the SDP banner. The businessman’s entrance into the race brought vitalities to the political terrain. In the same vein, when Alhaji Bashir Tofa emerged as the NRC flag bearer in the race, political pundits expressed confidence that the Babangida administration would make good his promise to leave.
The national leadership of the NRC and the SDP, led by Chief Tom Ikimi and Chief Tony Anenih respectively, went round the country to canvass for support from Nigerians. The transition to civil rule was programmed to take effect at different levels at different times. For instance, by 1991, state governors, state assemblies and National Assembly election had been held and those who emerged victorious were sworn in afterwards. But, the presidential election was scheduled to take place on June 12, 1993, and the winner of the contest was to have been sworn on October 1, 1993.
But, when it was finally held, it was acclaimed as the freest, fairest and most popular election in the country. The election, analysts said, would have made Africa a global toast, if it had been sustained.
The National Electoral Commission (NEC), under the leadership Professor Humphrey Nwosu, adopted the open ballot system, otherwise known as Option A4. It is a voting method in which voters vote openly by queuing or otherwise, indicating the candidate of their choice. This is as opposed to a secret ballot, where a voter’s choices are confidential. The decision was applauded, because it will leave little or no room for manipulating the exercise. That means candidates would emerge from their wards, local governments, the state and the national level through a transparent process.
Option A4 eliminated all forms double dealings and it provided room for transparency, because its result would be seen. Those who queue behind the candidates of their choice could be easily verified, as it does not give room for ballot stuffing and snatching of boxes.
The SDP convention witnessed lots of horse trading, negotiation, but eventually Abiola and Babagana Kingibe were picked as the party’s flag bearer and running mate respectively.
This was a Muslim-Muslim ticket, which ordinarily would have work against Abiola and Kingibe’s chances of winning the election. Unlike the SDP, the NRC gave its ticket to Tofa and Dr. Sylvester Ugoh, a Christian from the Southeast was his running mate. Obviously, the NRC tilted towards a Muslim-Christian balance, to make itself more appealing to the electorates.
Despite the religious imbalance in the SDP camp, Nigerians were not really bothered about that; for all they cared for was the emergence of a leader that would make the country a better place for all Nigerians.
It was all geared towards giving an opportunity to the out-going military authorities to abort the transition process supervised by Nwosu. The military were not tired of laying landmines in the way of the civilians. For instance, a pro-military campaign organization, the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), was one of groups trying to muddle the political waters and thereby discredit the political class.
ABN posters across the country were calling for additional four years for Babangida tacitly, a development which the Campaign for Democracy (CD), a pro-democracy organization, vehemently resisted.
In the build up to the election, many clandestine activities orchestrated to discredit the coming election. For instance, the SDP candidate Abiola during a campaign in Minna told the mammoth crowd that he was summoned to clear allegations of moving the capital from Abuja back to Lagos.
Debunking the allegations, he said Abuja would not only remain the capital of Nigeria, but by extension Africa. The 1993 elections were of high stakes; it was a contest between the military and the Nigerian people. It was simply a contest between light and darkness.
Observers said if the Babangida administration had had a foreknowledge that Nigerians would resist the cancellation of the election in the way they did, he would have prevented the election from taking place. But, the administration had shifted the goal post on many occasions and could not sustain the excuses any longer.
Nigerians were enthusiastic and in a hurry to put behind them the horrible experience of the military dictatorship. They wanted poverty banished out of their lives, since it had become the hallmark of the Babangida administration.
As the military tried to frustrate the campaign process of the parties by planting its moles among them, the politicians never lost focus. They campaigned on issues, unfolding what they had in store for them. For instance, the SDP’s ‘Hope 93’ slogan was not only captivating; it rekindled the expected light at the end of the tunnel. Nigerians dreamt and look ahead to Abiola’s presidency. He was embraced from all the strata of society. Artisans, teachers, civil servants, commercial drivers, politicians, traditional rulers etc adorned the parties’ emblems and proudly displayed then in their premises and business places. Though Nigerians could not clearly differentiate the ideologies of the NRC and the SDP, what was important was to have the better life promised by the two parties.
However, the political class started caving in after various subterfuges by the military to bungle the process. ABN and Arthur Nzeribe obtained a court injunction to stop the election a day before the election.
In order to prevent giving it a tribal colouration, it was the ABN Director of Operations, Abimbola Davis, who hails from the same region with Abiola that was saddled with the dirty job of securing a injunction from an Abuja High Court on June 10, less than 48 hours to the election.
The late Justice Bassey Ikpeme granted the prayers of the ABN which diabolic intrusion into the people’s quest for better life met some resistance from the pro-democracy group, CD. The pronouncement gave the first visible signal to the electorate that danger was lurking in the corner as people discussed in hush tones on how to confront the issue.
That injunction brought confusion and apprehension. People began to wonder what was amiss; they were waiting for the military government to clear the precarious air that unsettled the nation. Those who could read between the lines knew that the ABN had the support of government.
Despite the apprehension that gripped the country the Babangida administration, sources maintained, was to reverse the position taken by the Abuja court. Rather, the government took advantage of the impasse to manipulate the process.
When NEC chairman came on air to discountenance the ABN’s court injunction, Nwosu urged Nigerians to vote for the candidate of their choice on election day. Nigerians were determined to participate in the election, so they trooped out on the D- day to exercise their franchise.
It was a day Nigerians overwhelmingly said good-bye to ethnic and religious bigotry. It the first time a southerner would defeat a northerner in his home base. It was a day the religion meant very little or nothing as far as who governs the country was concerned.
Abiola defeated Tofa in Kano. Unofficial results for the election gave Abiola 8,341,307 votes, while Tofa got 5,954,087, which is 58.36 per cent and 41.64 per cent respectively. Babangida annulled the election midway into the announcement of the result by Prof. Nwosu.
Observers said Nwosu was bent on ensuring that the final result was declared, but he was coerced into stopping the announcement. Before Nigerians woke up to the reality, the election was annulled.
This was the beginning of the siege that clouded the country. Nigerians came out in unison to denounce government action. The cancellation of that election midwifed the birth of modern day pro-democracy groups which insisted that the election must be upheld and that Babangida must go.
That was the period the Pro National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CHDR) etc entered the political space, trying to secure victory for June 12.
It was a harrowing moment for Abiola and those who defended the June 12 mandate. The Babangida administration was declared persona non grata and was mandated to quit the stage in August the same year.
Analysts believe he never left without putting a subordinate who would temporarily fill the void for him. They said he had the intention of staging a coming back, hence the word ‘step aside’ was adopted by him when he left office,
The June 12 election had many activists going into exile to fight for its revalidation. Many paid dearly for it with their lives. This includes Abiola’s wife, Kudirat. She was not only vocal in the pursuit of justice for her husband; she became the rallying point when Abiola was incarcerated. When General Sani Abacha’s hit-men silenced her during the struggle, the likes of Prof. Wole Soyinka, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi emerged to fill the void left by her death.
The election also attracted sympathy for the country in the international circuit. Former United States of America’s ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, and others worked assiduously to enlist the country among rogue nations for stalling the most popular election in the country’s political journey.
Recent developments and recognition of June 12 as ‘Democracy Day’ by President Muhammadu Buhari is an indication that there was a valid election on June 12, 1993. The recognition given to Abiola posthumously, as Grand Commander Federal Republic of Nigeria (GCFR), is enough testimony that June 12 will continue to hold significant space in country’s history.
It was one election Nigeria many Nigerians voluntarily paid the supreme price, because of their belief in the process. The election was not only transparent, it was held to unite Nigeria. Incidentally, what would have gone down in history as Babangida’s most outstanding legacy was equally thwarted by the same effort deployed to halt a popular will.
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