Babangida’s 32 Years Old Regrets

Last week, former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, finally released his long expect­ed autobiography on his role in office and his personal life.

Expectedly, of all that was said at the launch which was witnessed by all the living former presidents and heads of state, except Muhammadu Buhari who was represented, the is­sues around his annulment of the 1993 presidential election won by the late Moshood Abiola, remains the most controversial and would continue to haunt him for as long as he lives.

The cancellation of that election which was adjudged the freest and fair­est of elections ever conducted in the country, remains the major blight of his reign as Head of State. There were many firsts also about that election.

For the first time, the outcome of the polls did not reflect the many drawbacks that are associated with our election before and after 1993. Ni­gerians were unanimous about their choice and the spread of Abiola’s vic­tory was unprecedented as it cut across ethno-religious boundaries and barri­ers. There were no reported cases of vote-buying or ballot box-snatching or violence and multiple thumb-printing and all those anomalies that plague our electoral process.

Imagine if that election had stood and the will of the people had pre­vailed, our democratic process would not only have been better for it, we would by now have improved upon the process rather than the shenanigans we experience now and the mockery we have been making of our ourselves over the years, in the name of conduct­ing elections.

So, what has Babangida got to tell us that would now assuage the feel­ings of the people after over 32 years of evading the issues and trading blames and begging the question? What did Babangida say that we did not already know and why has it taken him all these years to do what he has just done which is clearly a rehash of all he has been saying: blaming every­one except himself for the unfortunate annulment of the elections.

Why did it take him all this time af­ter the death of most of the key actors he mentioned, to come out with this book? Now that Gen Sani Abacha is no more, he is the fall guy and everything that has gone wrong with this country is blamed on him alone. How can he defend himself?

In his speech on June 26, 1993, when he annulled the poll, Gen. Babangida had said, “There are certain prerequi­sites which constitute an irreducible minimum for democracy. Such essen­tial factors include: Free and fair elec­tions; uncoerced expression of voters preference in election; respect for the electorate as unfettered final arbiter on elections; decorum and fairness on the part of the electoral umpires; and abso­lute respect for the rule of law.”

The annulled 1993 election ticked every box.

The outcome reflected all he said were basic for an acceptable poll, yet he disingenuously annulled it and claimed in the very same broadcast that; “It is true that the presidential election was generally seen to be free, fair and peaceful. However, there was in fact a huge array of election mal­practices virtually in all the states of the federation before the actual vot­ing began. There were authenticated reports of the election malpractices against party agents, officials of the National Electoral Commission and also some members of the electorate.

“If all of these were clear violations of the electoral law there were proofs of manipulations through offer and ac­ceptance of money and other forms of inducement against officials of the National Electoral Commission and members of the electorate. There were also evidence of conflict in the process of authentication and clearance of cre­dentials of the presidential candidates. “Indeed, up to the last few hours to the election, we continued in our earnest steadfastness with our transition dead­line, to overlook vital facts.”

It would be interesting to find out how Babangida would describe all the elections that have taken place be­tween then and now, to know how he now feels seeing the sham elections we have had since 1999?

After 32 years, Babangida now admits that the election was credible and regrets its annulment and in the same breath, he says his regime act­ed in the interest of the nation. How is that? How did your truncation of a process that could have placed this nation on the path of electoral growth and economic development be in the interest of the nation?

Speaking at the launch of his book, ‘A Journey in Service,’ last Thursday, in Abuja, Babangida also expressed re­gret over the annulment, describing it as the most difficult period of his life.

He said, “Undoubtedly credible, free and fair elections were held on June 12, 1993.

“However, the tragic irony of his­tory remains that the administration that devised a near-perfect electoral system and conducted those near-per­fect elections could not complete the process.

“That accident of history is most regrettable… As a leader of the military administration, I accept full responsi­bility for all decisions taken under my watch.

“And June 12 happened under my watch, mistakes, oversights and mis­steps happened in quick succession, but I say in my book, in all matters, we acted in the supreme national interest so that Nigeria could survive.

“Our nation’s march to democracy was interrupted, a fact that I deeply regret.”

Although, he claimed the an­nouncement annulling the election was done by the Late Abacha, without seeking his approval, he however, add­ed that given the opportunity he would have done things differently.

Sadly, life does not give one anoth­er chance to make a first impression. Babangida is responsible for the annul­ment and it is clear to all that he proba­bly allowed the election to run the full course because they did not envisage that the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Abi­ola and Babagana Kingibe of the SDP would gain acceptance by Nigerians.

If he were going to hand over the reign of power to anybody, he would have preferred doing it to Bashir Tofa of the NRC and not Abiola, the million­aire philanthropist that was the clear choice of the people.

So, 32 years later, he still regrets this and he will continue to because he simply failed to do the right thing at the right time.

This also speaks to the fact that, while our democratic processes still falter and lack credibility and ac­ceptance, those who supervise these processes that continue to subvert the wishes and aspirations of the voters would also live to regret and rue their missed chances of helping to build our nation and our institutions.

Babangida’s story in governance re­mains a classical case of a beloved lead­er who went rogue and squandered the enormous goodwill he enjoyed from the beginning. Very sad!