I will sue Babangida for infringement of my rights & detention opposing June 12 annulment—Femi Falana
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has stated that the cancellation of the June 12, 1993 election by the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida marked the final phase of manipulation.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria made this revelation during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.
In his memoir, A Journey in Service, IBB cleared himself of any blame and instead accused the late Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, of being responsible for the annulment of the June 12 election, which was won by Moshood Abiola of the Social Democratic Party.
In response, Falana stated that Babangida could not deny his role in the 1993 annulment, and added that “Talking about the annulment of the election, General Babangida claimed that he traveled to Katsina on the 23rd of June 1993 and was flabbergasted to learn about the annulment.
The Senior Advocate continued “He also banned the courts, particularly the Court of Appeal that was then entertained in the case.
“In the face of Section 19 of Decree 25 of 1987, that no court shall inquire into or make any order to stop elections. No interim order, no interlocutory order or final order will be made by any court to stop the conduct of election. So when they discovered, when the junta discovered that the Court of Appeal was going to set aside those orders, a decree was enacted by General Babangida on the 22nd of June.”
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“So all together, five decrees, which justify the annulment. So the announcement of 23rd was anchored on the decrees enacted by him the previous day, justifying the annulment of election.
“Between 23rd of August and 26th, General Babangida promulgated, signed the annulment to legalize the interim national government and for the country to move on. He claimed that he was not aware, he was taken aback on the 23rd of June, but on the 26th of June, he made a broadcast, initial broadcast, justifying the annulment and alleging that the election was riddled with corruption, corrupt practices. Even though it appeared to have been fair and free, but the election could not be relied upon.”
“Also on the 22nd of June, he annulled, or rather set aside, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, headed by the late Justice Bola Babalake, set up by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Chief Justice Mohamed Bello.
“So how he can turn around to give the impression that some forces, without his knowledge, annulled the election. He was sufficiently intelligent, and he once said, in the face of the crisis, I’m not only in office, I am in power.”
“In any case, the annulment you are talking about, was part of the last stage of the manipulation. Following the criminal annulment of the election, the Campaign for Democracy organized peaceful protests in many parts of the country.”
