Why I Don’t Recognise June 12 As Democracy Day – Ango Abdullahi
Prof. Ango Abdullahi, an academic, politician, and former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, is the the Chairman of Northern Elders Forum, NEF. He was also a leading member of the Peoples Front of Nigeria, a political organisation flouted by late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’adua in the build up to the 1992 general elections. A presidential aspirant at the time, Ango Abdullahi later served as the Chairman of the Presidential Campaign Organization of late Yar’adua in the build up to the 1992 election. The primaries in which Yar’adua emerged as the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, was eventually cancelled by then President, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Subsequent primaries produced MKO Abiola as the SDP presidential candidate.
In this interview with our Editor, Abdullahi Hassan in Zaria, Ango Abdullahi faulted the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day, canvassed for the scrapping of state independent electoral commission, and declared support for parliamentary system among other issues.
The administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari reviewed Nigeria’s Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12, and conferred National Honour on late Chief MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe. How do you see this development?
Well, I will start by my earlier reaction soon after the decision of the government to revisit the issue of the June 12. A journalist asked me what my opinion was. My opinion has not changed. My position is that the change is a classical example of political opportunism. Only a political opportunist will perhaps take on this matter at this particular point, almost
twenty-five years after it had occurred. But I did not have time to expantiate my own
understanding based on my own background as relates to the June 12 episode.
I was a presidential flag bearer representing Kaduna state under the Option A-4 transition programme. Each state was supposed to have a presidential flag bearer. This arrangement affected the two political parties at that time. I contested to represent Kaduna state, and I won the election.
We went to the convention with other presidential flag bearers, including late MKO Abiola.
To understand the scenario very well, let me say that from the beginning, General Shehu Musa Yar’adua contested in the primaries under the Option A-4 transition programme, and he emerged victorious defeating other contenders like Chief Olu Falae, late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, and others. This did not include Chief MKO Abiola at that time. After the primaries was cancelled, both for SDP and NRC, and in addition the major contenders in those parties banned from political participation by the military junta, then the issue arose on who are to fill in the vacant spaces they had left behind in SDP and NRC.
In the case of SDP, so many interests began to show up. Since Gen. Yar’adua was not going to run again, he should be replaced by somebody. In our caucus discussions, there was interest shown from within. For example myself, there was Babagana Kingibe and Atiku Abubakar. But there was nobody mentioned from the South-West. Shehu Yar’adua argued that when he was given the opportunity to contest, he was widely supported across the country, it will therefore be wise for us to recommend that somebody should emerge from other parts of Nigeria. The Yoruba’s were very strong in the Shehu Yar’adua political platform, and it was suggested that Yoruba’s should indicate somebody to run for the presidency from South- West. That is how eventually Abiola’s name featured.
I would like to also emphasize at this point that Abiola, with due respect to his memory and soul, was not part of what we called at that time, progressive politics, and this is quite clear. When Abiola started his politics, he joined National Party of Nigeria, NPN, the party that contested power against the Awoists, who were in the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN. In fact, he created a newspaper called National Concord. It was the media that challenged any newspaper article against NPN or against the presidential ambition of late President Shehu Shagari, especially during his first tenure. So, one could easily say from that point, that Abiola did not belong to the progressive politics from his own zone, who were followers of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was strongly against UPN and supported NPN, which eventually led to the victory of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. So when the issue of party became narrowed because in NPN days, it was fully a multi-party arrangement, the contest was on multi-party basis. Later, when the military decided that everybody must belong to either SDP or NRC, many people in the South-West preferred to be in SDP. Those of us who were under the political group, Peoples Front of Nigeria, PFN, tried to register it as a political party but it was subsequently denied. Later, those who are inclined to socialists ideology all trooped into SDP. That was when Shehu Yar’adua felt that a candidate should be sought from South –West.
The major players in our group at that time
were late S.M. Afolabi , Dafo Sarumi, and
others. It was decided that they should go and find a candidate for our endorsement, and that was how they brought in the name of MKO Abiola. It was endorsed by the Peoples Front of
Nigeria, which later converged into SDP. This was under Option A- 4, where it required all states to bring a presidential flag bearer. I was among the presidential flag bearers, and Atiku Abubakar as well as many others. Eventually, we ended up in Jos.
It is also important to state here that when Shehu Yar’adua was disqualified, there were some few interests in our caucus who preferred their names to be included and supported. One of them is Alhaji Babagana Kingibe. When it was decided that a candidate should come from the South- West, he opted out from our group and decided to go and seek for the presidency on his own using another platform other than that of Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. He moved to the South-West and sought support from PSP inclined governors. He became a candidate together with Abiola from the south-west. Already, we have agreed to support a candidate from South-West under our party, who turned out to be MKO Abiola.
Sir, when Babagana Kingibe left your group , was it because of conflict or personal interest?
No, no, it is for his personal wish. When
Babagana Kingibe opted out from our group, we did not bother much because we believed it is possible to get Abiola to emerge at the Convention, and we were hoping that MKO Abiola would honour an arrangement that when he emerged as presidential candidate, he would pick Atiku Abubakar as his running mate. This was how we went to the Jos Convention under this arrangement. But what happened, I don’t want to go into too much details of it, in short, Abiola emerged as SDP presidential candidate, but instead of honouring that arrangement in which he earlier pledged to pick Atiku Abubakar as running mate, he decided otherwise. I think there was pressure from South-West caucus. He dropped Atiku and
picked Babagana Kingibe.
All the same, we were not upset by that, we still agreed to support MKO Abiola’s candidature despite the fact that he disappointed us with no remedy and honour.
We supported his election, and he himself brought his campaign here in the North to Shehu Yar’adua. I was sitting when he came with the proposal of campaign arrangement
and he handed that over to the Yar’adua group.
I was asked to be the chairman of that sub-committee of planning and strategy of Abiola Campaign Committee for his election. All this worked out. My own plan and strategy led to his victory. The only evidence to my effort is his son, Kola Abiola, who could testify to how we did all the planning and strategies for his father’s election victory in my own house. However, it is important to emphasize that, if you are looking for those who struggled for democracy in Nigeria, you will begin to look at people who spearheaded the struggle, especially against military rule. I don’t know whether there is anyone that could fit into number one position than Gen. Shehu Yar’adu. He was Chief of Staff in Murtala-Obasanjo regime. When Murtala was
assassinated, he took the position of Obasanjo and became Chief of Staff Supreme
Headquarters.
If we go back to history, and looked at what triggered the overthrow of General Gowon, it was the issue of democracy. There were people who strongly believe in democracy especially after the civil war, and Shehu Yar’adua was at the forefront of that struggle. He insisted that if 1975 was not attainable, they should overthrow Gen. Gowon and fix an early date for return to civil rule in Nigeria, and that was how 1979 became a reality. This is largely on the insistence of Gen. Shehu Yar’adua and his clique. These were men who tried to see to the return to civil rule and genuine democracy in Nigeria.
So when you are talking about somebody who struggled, even though with military background, it was Shehu. He struggled for the actualization of lasting civil and democratic rule in the country. I don’t remember any name in the so-called military circle and even top politicians that did what Gen. Yar’adu did. And of course, when Abiola’s election was annulled, I remember we met here in Kaduna under the chairmanship of Shehu Yar’adua, with 75 of us at National Teachers Instutute, NTI. We declared our support that Abiola’s elections must be concluded, including counting of votes and the declaration of results. Though, it was never achieved, yet it was a serious resistance to the annulled election.
Another incident, which I can mention about Shehu Yar’adua’s insistence of sustaining civil rule in Nigeria was when Abacha overthrew the Interim Government of Chief Earnest Shonekan.
We were invited for discussion by the then military government; we said we would only attend on the condition that Abacha fix early date for handing over to civil rule in his first broadcast. Unless he agreed to that, we will not support the government, and he refused to do so. When Abacha failed to announce the date of handing over to civilians, Shehu Yar’adua decided to distance himself from the administration.
In fact, Abacha asked him to submit names of people he wants them to join his administration, but Yar’adua refused. I can tell you that I was among the five people that represented Shehu Yar’adua group in the discussions, and we all declined to accept any offer of Abacha.
Those who rushed to pick up appointments under the Abacha administration were the ones that would have spearheaded the struggle for their mandate but ended up compromising by accepting to join the regime. One of them is Babagana Kingibe, he was a minister in the Abacha cabinet.
If I keep talking you will see the lapses glaringly. In other words, those who were clamouring for democracy were the ones who rushed to pick appointments in Abacha administration. Shehu Yar’adua never did this, and those of us who were working with him never did, because of his belief that the country should return to civil rule. And more so, when he realised that Abacha wanted to transform from military to civilian ruler and all parties he created endorsed him as the only presidential candidate, Shehu never liked that and he stood his ground that the only way or solution was to return to civil rule with all democratic processes that is acceptable to Nigerians.
You see, it was largely because of this insistence, that Shehu Yar’adua was picked up and jailed; and because of his uncompromising stance in his support for democratic governance, he eventually died in detention.
So, if there is anyone that gave birth to the struggle – from military to civil democratic rule – that eventually culminated to elections and the annulment of the June 12 election, it was Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. He was the Hero of June 12, anything short of that is really a distortion of the correct history of democracy struggle in this country. The honour of June 12, 90 percent goes to Shehu Yar’adua, because of his contribution and insistence that resulted to what happened and brought Abiola into the mainstream politics. We know Abiola’s background with regards to democracy, he was a right-wing while we were leftists.
So for me, June 12 is a milestone no doubt for the struggle to entrench democracy in Nigeria.
Are you saying that the decision to honour Abiola by the Buhari Admnistration was wrong?
I think the government has not done its home work honestly. Perhaps, the principal advisers of the president did not advise him correctly in terms of the true struggle for democracy in this country.
Sir, one will be surprised to see that former President Buhari, who happened to be personally the closest person to Gen. Yar’adu from childhood to military service and in government, overlooked the role and struggle of Yar’adua as you mentioned?
As I have said earlier, this is a clear case of political opportunism. You see when you are talking about personal relations, let me use this term, ‘the more you look the less you see’’, that’s all.
Some Nigerians especially politicians, view the change in democracy day and the posthumous honour of Chief MKO Abiola by the Buhari administration as a way to please or win the political support of the
South-West at the time. How do you view this?
I read an article written by someone from Lagos, I can’t remember his name, his main point was that Yoruba’s are not easily hoodwinked by the flashy and rhetorical offerings of honours. According to him, Yoruba’s are always interpreting subjects and objects in any circumstance. I don’t really know whether this honour would result into any serious vote catching strategy. Prof. Ben Nwabuaze, who is an outstanding legal luminary and a constitutional lawyer has dissected this matter clearly. He said there should not be a rush into what the
government did, instead the government
should have done and executed more work for the issues to be really reliable and for the action to become defensible. The way things are now, the government cannot defend it legally. From all evidences, there are some decrees and laws on the matter which have not been repealed up till now. Obvously, the action taken could be regarded as action without legal backing for it to be sustained. It is important to state here that whatever action you will take must have a legal backing. Ones there is no legal backing, it is unlikely for the action to be sustained.
You are no doubt one of the closest people to late Gen. Yar’adua. How did you feel when the Buhari government took the decision to honour Abiola and Kingibe without recognising Gen. Yar’adua?
Obviously it was an act of political selfishness and injustice. There is miscarriage of Justice on this, particularly in not recognizing the role Shehu Musa Yar’adua ’adua played before Abiola came and even after Abiola’s absorption into SDP, the party he contested during June 12 elections. Yar’adua was among the top retired generals and politicians, who consistently and for many years challenged the military and insisted that the nation must return to democratic rule. That is why he was adamant and later had to pay the supreme sacrifice while in detention. Obviously injustice was done to his political struggle, injustice was done to his personality.
If Buhari decided to honour MKO, but Shehu Yar’adu name did not feature, it is injustice. In fact, Gen. Yar’daua did more than anybody I know in the area of democratic struggle during June 12, including those who died 40 years ago. No one did what Shehu did in the actualization of democracy since after the civil war. It is injustice to Shehu’s memory; it was political opportunism. As far as I am concerned, those who fabricated this must have done poor home work with the thought that this would give them a winning card in 2019.
What happened to the Yar’adua Foundation?
The Shehu Yar’adua Centre is still functioning very well. You only need to go there and see the activities in the Centre that generate the remembrance of late Shehu Musa Yar’adua. Yes, it is true that when Obasanjo was in power, he was quite close to General Yaradua, they
<span;>remained close even after office, that was why when false allegations of coup plot was made, Shehu Yar’adua and Obasanjo were the main victims, and both went to jail. Fortunately, Obasanjo later regained freedom, but unfortunately, Shehu died in prison.
A book was written about him, but we are
working on a new one, the correct version on Shehu’s Politics in Nigeria.
Was the Buhari government right to have honoured MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe?
These are illegal activities. The May 29 Democracy Day is a facade, because this is not the first transfer of power from military to civil rule. I think there are people who only want to print their names into history, unfortunately in a crooked way. I have never celebrated May 29 as Democracy Day in Nigeria and I will never celebrate June 12 as Democracy Day either, because there are more significant days that Nigeria should remember in terms of democraty in the country.
For me, the only Democracy Day in Nigeria is 1st of October, because it was a day when Nigeria as a country became free from colonial masters arising from elections that had been held in the country. Is there any day you can celebrate in the life of a nation more than the day you are free from colonialism? To me, no date deserves any honour than the 1st of October. It was a day to honour our founding fathers that went through tough struggle to get us out of the clutches of colonial hardships, which since then we have never had a replacement of that effort.
The dominant issue in your discussion is democracy. Is Nigeria making any headway in democratic governance now?
No, we are not. We are doing a half job of it. Democracy to me is a situation where I speak freely, associate freely, I write freely within the existing laws of the country. Democracy should give one a chance to identify the persons that can serve the people better. We had it in the first republic, and we had it to some extent in the second republic. In the Second Republic, we had a multi-party system where you can create a party and contest election, but up till now, the country has been straight jacketed by two party systems. Of course, the parties were created by military regime and have not achieved any democratic goals which are essential in a democratic country.
Even when the SDP and NRC were created, they only reflected and promoted geo-ethnic politics. For example, the SDP was for the South, especially South-West while NRC was for the North.
Though there was an attempt to change that in the Third Republic, not much was witnessed. We are now going back to almost the same thing. This time around, you must belong to one of the two strong political parties before you make any significant impact in the elections.
The minimum requirement that is supposed to be provided in an ideal democracy is the provision for an independent candidate. Unless we have a provision for the emergence of independent candidates, our participatory democracy is incomplete. It does not matter even if we have more political parties, because only two are significant in the real power contest as we have today in Nigeria. It is also a citizen’s constitutional right to form political associations that can metaphose into political parties.
Sir, what are the things that need urgent corrections to strengthen democracy in Nigeria?
As I have always argued, if I have an option today, I would exit Nigeria from the presidential system and return it to the parliamentary system. Many reasons can be given on this. You can see here that there is no democracy at the grassroots, and you can never have it until you expunge from our Constitution the so- called State Independent Electoral Commission. They are instruments of governors in the states.
You could see in general elections that political parties share seats among themselves, but in local government elections, a governor expects 100 per cent return victory based on his wish or his party. Therefore, one of the urgent things to ensure democracy especially at the grassroots is to scrap the so-called State Independent Electoral Commissions in all states of the federation and allow INEC to handle all elections.
