Blames Abdulsalami Abubakar for his father’s death
A son of late MKO Abiola, winner of the famous June 12 annulled presidential election, Jamiu Abiola, has told President Muhammadu Buhari that it is hypocritical to treat former military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.) as a hero. He blames Abubakar for his father’s death.
At the 20th anniversayr of Kudirat Abiola’s death, organised by the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy and the Campaign for Democracy, Jamiu recalled how Abubakar refused to release his father from jail even when he was aware of his failing health.
Jamiu said that from what he has seen, he would not have been surprised if some Nigerians made a hero out of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, who confined Abiola till his (Abacha’s) death, if he were alive today.
He termed the assassination of his father and mother as a turning point in Nigeria’s political history.
Kudirat was killed on June 4, 1996, by suspected state officials under the Abacha regime, while her husband died in custody on July 7, 1998 in suspicious circumstances while Abunakar was in charge as head of State.
Speaking at the event, Jamiu noted that people who worked against the enthronement of democracy during the post-June 12 struggle have become ‘heroes’ in the country.
These people, included “somebody like the former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who refused to release the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Abiola) or saw to it that the president died in detention.”
He said, “A day before he (Abiola) died, he complained that he had malaria for more than a month and the government did not attend to him. The president (Abdulsalami) knew he was very sick but he did not do anything (to salvage the situation). At the end of the day, the country’s president-elect – my father – died.”
According to him, it is hypocritical on the part of any Nigerian government (referring to Buhari’s government) to see Abdulsalami as a hero and an adviser to the Federal Government.
Recall that Buhari, recently, in a chat with State House correspondents at the Villa, in celebration of Democracy Day, had recalled how Abubakar escorted him to go and thank former President Goodluck Jonathan, after the latter graciously accepted defeat in the 2015 Presidential Elections even before the final results were announced.
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