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30 yrs of June 12: MKO son’s bombshell: Buhari cancelled benefit to Abiola family despite GCFR recognition

It will be exactly 30 years tomorrow since the June 12, 1993, presidential election generally believed to have been won by the late Bashorun MKO Abiola but annulled by the then-military government.
Abiola died in the ensuing attempt to reclaim his mandate in 1998, about four weeks after the military ruler who had detained him for declaring himself President, General Sani Abacha, mysteriously passed on in June of that year.
Abiola’s death sparked agitation across the country for his posthumous recognition as a former Nigerian leader immediately after the nation returned to civilian rule in 1999 but this was not achieved until 2018 when former President Muhammadu Buhari moved Democracy Day from May 29, the day Nigeria had returned to civil rule after the June 12, 1993 episode, to June 12.
Buhari did not stop there. He conferred posthumously the highest honour in the land and one usually conferred on Presidents or former Presidents, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), on the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Earlier, former President Goodluck Jonathan had tried to immortalise Abiola by renaming the University of Lagos (UNILAG) after him but the move was resisted by the UNILAG alumni, forcing Jonathan to beat a retreat.
Abiola’s then-running mate, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, on his part, got the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) honour usually reserved for Vice Presidents or their equivalents from the Buhari administration. The gesture was interpreted in many quarters to mean that Abiola and Kingibe had been recognised as former President and former VP respectively. Whereas it is five years since June 12 was officially recognised, it is 30 years since the historic election.
President Bola Tinubu was a participant in the June 12 episode as he was involved in the then-transition to civil rule as a senator representing Lagos West before teaming up with pro-democracy elements to demand the restoration of the Abiola mandate from the Abacha regime under the aegis of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).
And this is the first Democracy Day on June 12 under the Tinubu administration. In this interview, one of the children of the late Abiola, Jamiu, speaks on how the family has fared since the detention of their patriarch, the death, the murder of his mother, Kudirat, during the struggle and other issues around June 12.
It has been 30 years since the June 12 election and nearly 25 years since your father’s demise. How has it been with the family?
It has not been easy at all. It was from the heights of joy as a result of the presidential victory to the depths of sorrow because of the annulment. Such an event can only be devastating to any family. This is not to mention other countless negative consequences of the tragedy. The family has accepted the fact that life must go on.
This is the only attitude we can adopt as a family, particularly because in most countries similar to Nigeria, in terms of population and ethnic diversity, there has always been a family that has paid the supreme price for democracy and stability.
The Ghandis in India, the Bhuttos in Pakistan and even the Kennedys in the United States of America have all lost at least family members to unnatural causes that were politically motivated. This is a fact that can now be sadly said about Nigeria too.
At a time, stories about disputes resulting from sharing of inheritance were peddled. It was also said that paternity and Deoxyribonucleic Acid, DNA, tests were conducted…
Most of what you have heard is true. When it rains it pours and this is what further exacerbated the tragedy. DNA tests were conducted but this issue was deliberately mishandled to divert attention from my father’s assets. The fact that some had failed the DNA test should never have been published in newspapers. So, there were court cases later used as excuses for stalling the sharing of my father’s assets or diverting their proceeds to fictitious legal charges. The fact that all of this was happening just a few years after my father died was a great disservice to his memory and legacy.
But this is in line with something God Himself had mentioned in the Koran when he stated that among our family members, some might be our enemies. It is a lesson from which many people, old and young, should learn. To make matters worse, those who took over his assets have even refused to maintain the house in which he was buried, even though it will not cost more than a tiny fraction of their loot.
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Tinubu not occupied with 2027 election – Presidency

The Presidency has stated that President Bola Tinubu is not focused on the 2027 election.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare said the president is currently concerned and focused on his economic policies that would improve the lives of Nigerians.
Posting on his X page, Dare said Tinubu is concerned with the long-term impact of his policies than political manoeuvring ahead of 2027.
“We’ve seen our foreign reserves go up. We’ve seen inflation come down. We’ve seen our trade surplus go up. We’ve seen exports go up and imports drop.
“We’ve seen the investments that have been attracted—over $50 billion. We are seeing prices dropping. We have clear data, and you have a President that is clearly in the driver’s seat, and he has stayed the course of the decisions he has taken.
“And I think that the next election is not really in his view right now. It’s how to make sure that at the end of his first term, he can sit back and say, ‘I have impacted the lives of Nigerians. I have turned this economy around.’”
His comment is coming amid moves to birth a political coalition that is believed would give Tinubu a run for his money in 2027.
Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai recently visited some top leaders in Nigeria following his criticisms of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
After his visits, El-Rufai defected from APC to the Social Democratic Party, SDP, amid moves to intensify the birth of the coalition.
News
Emirate tussle: Sanusi remains Emir – Kano govt

Kano State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Barrister Haruna Isa Dederi has cleared air that the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, on the State Emirship tangle did not in anyway invalidate the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th emir of Kano.
Dederi declared that, “having passed a landmark verdict on January 10, 2025, that reaffirmed the power of the Kano State government to reappoint Sanusi, it is impossible for the Court of Appeal to set aside or quash it’s own decision on the same matter.
”The Attorney General made the position known to journalists while reacting to Friday ruling of the Appellate Court on the application for stay of execution filed by Alh. Aminu Baba Dan Agundi, one of the kingmakers loyal to the 15th Emir of Kano, Alh. Aminu Ado Bayero, pending determination of the appeal at the apex court.
According to Dederi, the matter is “functua officio”, adding that only the Supreme Court has the power to set aside the decision of the Appeal Court handed by Justice Mohammad Mustapha on January 10, 2025.
“The Appeal Court today, after hearing their application for a stay of execution, ruled that the status quo should rather be maintained as it is now, until after the judgment of the Supreme Court. The have filed an appeal at the Supreme Court.
“It doesn’t mean that the judgment delivered on January 10, 2025, has been quashed. That judgment is still standing and still in place and subsisting.
The Court of Appeal cannot reverse its own decision. It is not possible. It is only a supreme Court that has the power to set aside the judgment given by a lower court,” Dederi noted.
Recall that on January 10, 2025, a three-member panel of Court of Appeal, Abuja division, led by Justice Mohammad Mustapha set aside the judgment of Justice A. Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, which nullified the steps/actions taken by the Kano State Government pursuant to the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law 2024, including the appointment of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, DanAgundi had since proceeded to the Supreme Court to upturn the lower court’s verdict.
Dan Agundi equally filed a motion for stay of execution of Justice Mustapha’s Judgment pending the hearing and determination of the Supreme Court judgment on the matter.
News
Senator Abiru bags Responsive Representation for Good Governance Award from SPC

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions , Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (APC Lagos East), has been conferred with ” Responsive Representation for Good Governance Award ” by the Senate Press Corps.
The Award as stated by the Chairman of the Corps , Mr Taiye Odewale , during presentation on Wednesday in Abuja, was in recognition of Senator Abiru’s quality membership in the Senate and responsive representation of people in Lagos East Senatorial District .
According to the SPC Chairman, “Senator Abiru’s legislative inputs in plenary and at committees’ level in the Senate over the last four years have contributed immensely to good governance – driven legislations at the federal level aside giving the people of Lagos East responsive representation .
“Responsiveness of Senator Abiru’s representation of people of Lagos East Senatorial District in the Senate since December 2020, cuts across human, capital and communities development through series of well conceptualized and envisioned empowerment programmes for different categories of constituents”
In his remarks after the award presentation , elated Senator Abiru who dedicated the award to his entire staff in Abuja and Lagos East Senatorial District, said is call for him to do more.
“I thank the entire members of the Senate Press Corps for confering this award on me based on their parameters of assessment and dedicate it to my entire staff from the Senior Legislative Aide (SLA) to other staff here in Abuja and down to Lagos East .
“I’m motivated by the award to do more for my constituents in Lagos East as their Senator and to Nigeria, by adding the required value to the Senate at all times, for good law making and good governance”, he said.
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