The Nigerian Presidency has strongly refuted recent claims made by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, regarding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s alleged involvement in the annulment of the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election.
In a statement released on Sunday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the Presidency dismissed Lamido’s remarks as “false” and “revisionist.”
The clarification follows Lamido’s appearance on Arise Television, where he alleged that President Tinubu — then a senator under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) — was a major supporter of former military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida, who oversaw the annulment of the 1993 polls widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest election.
“Alhaji Lamido’s claims represent a distortion of history and a regrettable attempt at revisionism,” the statement read.
The Presidency also defended Tinubu’s late mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, rejecting claims that she mobilized market women in support of the annulment.
“Let us set the record straight: Alhaja Mogaji never mobilised market women to support the unjust annulment. Had she done so, she would have lost her position as market leader in Lagos,” the statement added.
The statement further clarified that while Alhaja Mogaji may have maintained personal relations with Babangida before the political crisis, she was never part of any pro-annulment campaign.
President Tinubu’s allies within the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) movement have also historically cited his resistance to military dictatorship during the post-annulment struggle, a record the Presidency maintains remains untainted.
