How MKO Abiola Was Betrayed - Tinubu

October 18, 1998

In this revealing interview with Sunday Dare and Henry
Ugbolue, Senator Bola Tinubu, a returnee exile replays the
intrigues of the Abacha regime, the games politicians and
the military play and his hopes for the future.

How do you feel to be back home?
It is very, very nice to be back, very good feeling of family,
camaraderie to be back in one's homeland. It is
indescribable: the reception, the joy of being back home.
First, I want to say a big 'thank you' to all journalists.
Without you, without your steadfastness, your commitment
to truth and justice, your tenacity, the struggle would have
been nothing. We are back to strengthen that section of the
press which stood for justice courageously. I salute the
religious leaders, particularly the CAN (Christian
Association of Nigeria) with honourable men such as
Reverend Sunday Mbang, Reverend Adetiloye and the rest of
them. To have seen this nation go through struggle without
loss of lives in their hundreds of thousands; without turning
this Nigeria into Rwanda or Burundi, was due to their
prayers, and their courageous support for justice and truth.
We will continue to praise them and hold them in the
highest esteem. The history of this country will not be
complete without their names being written in gold.
Let us take you to the journey to exile. At what point, did it
dawn on you that you had to travel out of this country?
At the point that it was clear to me that my life was in
danger. Yes, after the annulment and we declared Abacha's
regime illegal, Senator Abraham Adesanya, Senator Kofo
Akerele-Bucknor, Senator Ameh Ebute, Senate president;
Rev. Father Nwolu and Senator Nweje were arrested
initially. I went underground and was being sought by the
police and the authorities. Yet, I continued to grant
interviews to the international media and the local press.
Suddenly, on 9 October, my house in Victoria Island, Lagos,
was petrol-bombed and a call came in that 'you grant
another interview, you try to abuse this government again,
you will be miserable.' I was still taking those as mere
threats until a friend called to tell me that I should go
deeper underground or leave the country, that what will
happen to me might be a send-forth to eternity. The
language he used, I mean the way it was used, coupled with
the fact that I was still on drips for jaundice and typhoid, hit
me hard.
Later, another friend phoned me that they were heading for
my house and I saw the signs. They didn't meet me at
home. I headed for the hospital where I received treatment.
I left that hospital in disguise because they were already at
the door. They didn't know I was the one.
My passports had been impounded. But I was assisted by
some embassies to procure travel documents with which I
travelled. went through Agege and the rest by commercial
motorbike disguised as a mallam (laughs). I even went to
bid Kudirat Abiola and the rest good-bye.
But I could not go to my mum, I could not say good-bye to
everybody else because at that stage, it wasn't safe to do
so. So, I left through the routes that became popularly
known as 'NADECO routes', out of the country. Sometimes, I
had to hitch rides on bikes.
I landed in Benin Republic and made a call to General
Akinrinade. As I was talking with him, they were right in
front of his house. He said they'd just arrived.
He was still in Nigeria?
He was still in Nigeria. And the informants had already told
me that Akinrinade was next. As I was talking to him, he
told me that he was just preparing his luggage. So, I gave
him the information that he should not come through the
gate and he should not attempt to go to Murtala Muhammed
Airport. He later said he even had to jump over his fence.
He would be telling you his own story. He said he would be
connecting Dan Suleiman. Then I told them where I was in
Benin Republic. They sneaked out and joined me later.
After some days, Akinrinade and Dan Suleiman left.
We will like to take you back to the June 12 struggle. When
the struggle commenced, we want to have a clear
understanding of what you faced then and what the military
dictatorship did...
The intrigues are quite a phenomenon. It goes back to when
Yar'Adua was manipulated believing that the divide and rule
game played by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida was to make
Abiola president and Kingibe his running-mate, contrary to
the promise made to Yar'Adua that Atiku would be his
running-mate. Abiola was confused. He later went round
and nominated Bafyau after the threat from IBB that if he
announced Atiku Abubakar as his running-mate, he should
forget about the presidency. Abiola was worried. He got to
Kaduna, Atiku was waiting for the announcement. Abiola
could not make it. He called an emergency meeting and had
to leave for Abuja. Babangida then asked him to pick
Babagana Kingibe.
In addition to that, there was pressure from the SDP
governors for Abiola not to pick Kingibe as running-mate.
Yar'Adua, of course, was angry with Abiola for dropping his
man, Atiku. Babangida played on that anger, got Yar'Adua
to endorse the interim national government and got Anenih
to sign off the mandate.
That was how Yar'Adua got to support the ING and
reconciled with Babangida by using Gen. Obasanjo. It's
truth, Obasanjo did not support June 12 It was a lie, a
propaganda to say he supported June 12. He supported the
Interim National Government (ING). He said it. They played
on that intrigue that Yar'Adua would get that lost chance if
the ING was there; that he would be able to recover all that
he had lost, using his men nominated into the ING.
There were rumours making the rounds that there was a
deal between Abiola and Abacha.
An understanding.
Okay, understanding, a sort of agreement. You were one of
the men that accompanied Abiola to Abacha's place. What
really happened?
Until you have an understanding of what happened before
then you cannot have a clear understanding of what really
happened on the day of the visit.
What happened is...you follow the intrigue... The case that
went to the court, to Justice Dolapo Akinsanya was
engineered and proposed by me, as an elected
representative of the people. I was going to challenge the
ING, its legitimacy, through Professor Kasumu. Prof.
Kasumu was never Abiola's lawyer. Prof. Kasumu drafted
the case on that day. We reviewed it. We were about to go
to court and I mentioned to Abiola, what I was about to do.
Abiola invited Prof. Kasumu to meet with him. Kasumu met
with him. He said we'll, maybe Abiola himself as the
candidate, the custodian of the mandate, should really go
for it. We changed it overnight, turned the case round.
Eventually Abiola took the case to court.
Prof. Kasumu won the case. Justice Dolapo Akinsanya
declared the ING illegal. So, each time we condemn the
judiciary, we have to make exceptions. No one was
anticipating the judgment. We had made alternative plan:
that if the judgment was in Abiola's favour, he should take
over that night, but if the government won, we would find
other means. Unfortunately, may his soul rest in perfect
peace, Basorun Abiola, was so trusting. He trusted Kingibe
so much. He had told him, we were going to court, he had
given Kingibe details of the action. The matter leaked to
(Gen. Sani) Abacha, who was then minister of defence.
When, the judgment came and the court declared the ING
illegal, and we were preparing to swear in Abiola, Kingibe
was nowhere to be found. Abiola was not ready to be sworn
in without Kingibe. He said it should be done in the
traditional, normal way, two of them, that he was not the
only custodian. He said he had a running-mate. Suddenly, a
message came from (Gen. Oladipo) Diya that he needed to
see me. I then went to meet him at his house. They already
had the information that Abiola was to be sworn in
(laughter). Diya said 'you've got the judiciary supporting
you, you should now get the military backing. We are ready
to back you, let's go.' Diya took me to Gen. Abacha's
house. There Abacha told me, ' look, distinguished senator,
you are the closest person to Abiola. I voted for Abiola, I
like us to handle the situation like gentlemen. We heard of a
plan that he was going to swear himself in. In fact, the
constitutional crisis that is on the ground now is a big one.
This is the ministry of defence, we will install Abiola and
put the military behind him. Now that we have this
judgement, Abiola should, however, not swear himself in.'
There and then, they called Abiola's son, Kola. They told
him on phone that, 'we have spoken with Bola Tinubu, and
he is coming to discuss with you.'
Were you aware that they were making the call?
I wasn't. They went into another room... Abacha's inner
room. I went back and discussed at 2 a.m with Abiola.
I told him I was not sure that these people were sincere. I
cannot forget the proverb that he used to explain his
position. He said 'if you have to fight somebody, you've got
to get close to him. Even if they are not sincere, he is the de
facto head of state now, let me listen to him. I'm ready to
take him on.' It was the time they gave us the date, and he
said Abiola would not last. When Abiola met with Abacha,
they told us that Col.(Abubakar) Umar was planning to
topple Abiola. They listed about 17 officers, including Gen.
Joshua Dogonyaro and the rest of them, who they said, were
involved in the coup plot. They told Abiola, 'You won't be
able to stop them, you won't last four days.' They said they
needed to get rid of these dangerous boys in the military.
Abiola became a little jittery.
Abacha told Abiola that if by the third day, they could not
swear him in, in six weeks, six months when they have
gotten rid of all the mines that's the way Abacha described
it the mines against June 2, and that Abiola should not walk
through the mines at all. That if they couldn't do it in three
weeks, to six weeks, the maximum they would take was six
months and they will hand over to him. Kingibe agreed with
the plan. Abiola was so trusting. On the second or third day,
Abiola said he wanted to consult the SDP, the people. He
did. We held a meeting in his house. We went back to Diya
after the discussion and raised a lot of questions. Diya got
angry because we were questioning their sincerity. He said
he was a man of honour and won't deceive Abiola. He asked
Abiola what he was to gain deceiving him. He said he had
received severe punishment and discrimination from
Babangida because of June 12. He reminded us of his
posting to Kaduna that is more or less a demotion. He said
it was Abacha's co-operation that got him to the War
College and that he believed Abacha could do what he said
he would and he (Diya) will do it with him. And then he got
Abiola and my side trusting him as a matter of fact. And, as
a result of that, Abiola decided to grant him the chance and
opportunity to actualise June 12, believing that he will do
it.
Then, another turn came for Abiola to appear for discussion
with Abacha. They met that night with Abiola saying he was
not sure of what will happen with his mandate, that he
could not trust Abacha.
He told Abacha so?
Yes, he told Abacha that he wanted more convincing
evidence. It was then Abacha convinced him of the danger
to his life if he should go ahead to swear Abiola him. Then
an emir who was a mutual friend to Abacha and Abiola was
brought in to persuade Abiola to believe and to support
Abacha. He swore under Islamic and traditional oath, more
or less, that he would not sit down there and work against
June 12that he had spoken to Alhaji (Lateef) Jakande who
would be Abiola's eye in government. Diya had earlier
called Jakande from his house that Abiola was on the way.
Abiola spoke to him. Jakande said he would stay awake
until we got there. We got to him at 2.30 a.m. When Abiola
narrated the story, the discussion with Diya and Abacha, he
said, well, we should go along with it and that he was going
to take the appointment in Abacha's cabinet and he could
be trusted to work for June 12. He swore he would resign if
they reneged. There and then we made a call to Papa Ajasin
(may his soul rest in peace). The old man said, 'no, don't
near them. They are dangerous.' Abiola vainly tried to
persuade Papa Ajasin about the sincerity of Abacha and
Diya, but the old man was very angry. When we got back to
the car, I asked Abiola what he planned to do about what
Papa Ajasin said. He told me he would have to talk to
Kudirat, to talk to Papa.
Six months passed, no June 12. Abacha became hostile. I
went to Abuja to meet Diya in company of a prominent
common friend of ours. 'General Diya, sir, what about the
mandate?' He said, 'We are in crisis, we are still not stable,
we have so much to do.' Then I said, 'You probably have
deceived us, six months have lapsed, and your promise
could not be kept.'
Therefore, I went to discuss with Abiola.The indications
were that these people were liars and they would not
actualise June 12. Then Diya's influence started waning.
Abiola said the honeymoon was over, he had to fight for his
mandate. And it was then he started putting together the
People's Alliance for Justice and Unity (PAJU). I think
TheNEWS published those activities. I went to see Abiola in
the UK.
Casting your mind back to all that happened, could you
have adopted better strategies for the struggle, looking at
the fallout eventually?
Probably that was the best option we had. Different
strategies could have been employed. Abiola had too many
advisers all sorts of things were being suggested. One thing
we must give him credit for, Abiola remained steadfast,
remained resolute that he would not want Nigeria to go
through bloodshed. He said 'look, the poor masses, the
down-trodden, would suffer if we allow this to degenerate to
serious crisis.' That is why he had negotiations with Gen.
Abacha. When there were protests and students were killed,
Abiola started fasting, started sending messages that it
should stop, that he would not want to ascend office on
people's blood. So, no matter what option he opted for, that
peace and dialogue approach was the best.
A number of progressives such as Jakande and Babatope
were eventually taken in by Abacha, how will you describe
their roles?
The roles played by those people were totally
dishonourable. They betrayed the masses. Kingibe
specifically played a pivotal role. He served Abacha, held
several ministerial posts and even now, he is very close to
the government.
You mentioned that Diya was getting sidelined. Was he
aware of what was happening?
I went to see Diya in Abuja in company of a common friend
of oursand I confronted him about these. He was not
receptive. Navy-Commodore Olabode George was there.
We realized that Diya was either overwhelmed or was sober.
I told him, 'this is my last visit to you, Mr. Vice-President, if
you are not in this government to actualise June 12, you
have betrayed us, you have betrayed the masses of Nigeria
and you will not come back the same.' He asked me
whether that was a declaration of war between the two of us
and I told him to assume whatever. I was bold and
courageous enough to say that to him. That I will stop
believing him. He started giving excuses that it was Abacha
that was playing politics and that he was handicapped
because of that. He said he wanted to be careful, that he
was still going to play the role he was expected to play on
June 12. He said he noticed that Abacha himself was not
sincere and I said, 'quit the government. If you quit at this
stage, the government will collapse. Quit.' He said, 'well,
you are not my adviser. I will quit when it is necessary.' I
said 'it is better done now.' He said 'you don't tell me,
senator, what to do?
You noticed there was a transition in Abacha, from the
gentleman officer...
Yes, he went crazy. There is one big lesson. We have to
understand the antecedent of the military, particularly the
Nigerian Army. The military Generals were trained to
deceive, they take every opposition as enemy, and they
deceive you. You have to be cynical in every political
dispensation or arrangement; you have to distrust the
military. In their professional calling, normal duty, respect
them. But in any political arrangement, don't ever rely on
any military 'friend.'
What about the Abubakar transition programme?
Nigeria has gone through a lot. At this stage, it appears the
military's back is against the wall. You still have to ask
these questions as to their sincerity and commitment. But
the country must move forward. You can see poverty written
on the faces of the masses. Nigeria is retrogressing, not
progressing in every aspect of social and economic
development. I still doubt what Gen. Abubakar is still doing
there. I still ask the question, why can't he just hand over
immediately to a government of national unity and
reconciliation? But maybe he has other things in mind. I'm
not privy to his plans. Maybe he needed to take care of the
army, and maybe he needed to bring back honour and
integrity to the military. He has the opportunity now. We
have to give him the chance to demonstrate that he would
not turn into another full-blown dictator and put us all in jail
again. He has that opportunity. He has the option.
There are fears Abubakar may pursue another hidden
agenda?
First and foremost, the abrogation of Decree 2 is important.
The abrogation will help Abubakar, not the exiles, not
because people are afraid of being detained. If government
abuses the rights of its citizens, it definitely loses its
legitimate claim to civil obedience. You can't abuse your
citizenry and expect them to obey a dictatorial law. They
could revolt. It is their right. They have a natural right to be
whatever they want to beto speak, worship freely, etc. They
are God-given rights if you take them away, you've lost
your own legitimate claim as a government, to obedience to
your laws and regulations. If you profess to have free press,
human rights and on the other hand, you promulgate a
decree that takes away the rights on the other hand, are you
really sincere? We are trying to help him sustain his
credibility by asking him to abrogate Decree 2. It is going to
help him with the international community. Nigeria is a
signatory to the Geneva Convention and the Harare
Declaration. Decree 2 is a complete violation of those
agreements.
There have been these calls for restructuring
The restructuring is to help the entire nation. Social
engineering and economic empowerment and political
development of a nation depend on the flexibility of people
to devote their time to local and economic development
within their environment. As a matter of fact, nobody should
be scared of restructuring. It is just an imaginary fear of
disintegration. Good governance, transparency, honesty,
respect for human rights and equity facilitate unity.
[The News Magazine 26 October,1998]