By Lateef Ibrahim
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has said that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was among the political leaders who agreed to the adoption of rotational presidency in Nigeria following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Akume made the clarification on Tuesday while responding to questions during the World Press Conference held in Abuja as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 27th Democracy Day Anniversary.
The SGF, according to a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr Yomi Odunuga, recalled that the annulment of the June 12 election, widely regarded as the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s history and won by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, necessitated far-reaching political decisions aimed at preserving national unity and strengthening the country’s democratic foundation.
According to him, leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) met in Kaduna under the leadership of the late Chief Solomon Lar and Alhaji Adamu Ciroma to deliberate on the way forward, with power shift and the party’s presidential candidature featuring prominently on the agenda.
According to him, “It was a tough argument before the issue of rotational presidency was agreed on.
“At the end, we had to concede. “We must do this. June 12 annulment had complicated the whole thing. It was finally agreed that we’ll be alternating between North and South.
“Atiku was one of the leaders at that meeting, which was convened by Chief Solomon Lar. He was part of that agreement.”
The SGF explained that the decision to alternate presidential power between the North and the South emerged from the need to address the political consequences of the June 12 annulment and to promote inclusiveness and national cohesion.
Reflecting on the significance of June 12, Senator Akume described the annulment as a painful setback to the democratic aspirations of Nigerians, noting that the election was adjudged free, fair and credible.
“Abiola won that election round and square. That election was annulled by the military government. It was very painful because the people spoke and they spoke freely. They made their own choice,” he said.
Akume added that one of the most enduring lessons from the June 12 experience is the supremacy of the people’s will in a democratic society.
“The first lesson is that the voice of the people must always be supreme; it must be sacrosanct. That’s the beauty of democracy. We prefer the ballot to bullets,” he said.
Senator Akume expressed confidence in Nigeria’s democratic institutions, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying the country has learnt valuable lessons from the events of 1993 and would never allow a repeat of such an annulment.
His words, “If an election is conducted very fairly, and one wins, no problem. The actors at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are not young people, they were adults when this thing happened. If we were to take a poll at that time, over two thirds of Nigerians would have condemned that act of annulment.
