FORMER Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to settle the N45 billion debt allegedly owed the late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola by the Nigerian government.
Lamido made this call during the public presentation of his autobiography, “Being True To Myself”, in Abuja on Tuesday, May 13.
“I would like to appeal to President Tinubu to close the chapter of June 12. In his book, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida revealed that Abiola won the election,” Lamido said.
He claimed that when he met with former military leader, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), the retired general acknowledged that the government owed Abiola N45 billion.
“When I went to him (IBB), he said Abiola was being owed ₦45 billion. Abiola is doubly punished. One, he was not given the presidency, and two, he is owed,” he said.
He urged the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, who represented Tinubu at the event, to convey his message to the president.
The ICIR reports that Abiola, widely known by his initials – MKO – won the 1993 presidential election, annulled by Babangida.
Recall that Babangida, in his new autobiography, “A Journey in Service”, launched on February 20, 2025, publicly admitted Abiola won the election.
In the book, reviewed by former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Babangida dedicated a full chapter to the transition to military rule and the annulment of the June 12 election, widely believed as the most credible, freest and fairest in Nigeria’s democratic history.
Osinbajo described the annulment as a decision with “cataclysmic consequences” that led to a “military interregnum” considered one of the most vicious in Nigeria’s nationhood.
In the book, Babangida said Abiola, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), met all constitutional requirements to be declared Nigeria’s president.
At Lamido’s book launch, Tinubu hailed him as a principled politician whose personal journey mirrors the story of Nigeria’s democratic evolution.
While speaking on behalf of the president, the Minister of Information and National Orientation said the book “is the celebration of a life defined by courage, consistency, and commitment to democratic ideals.
“Alhaji Sule Lamido, though a staunch member of the political opposition and often a critic of the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), remains one of the strong pillars of Nigeria’s political evolution,” he said.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M