Alake accuses Lamido of betraying Abiola’s mandate, defends Tinubu’s role
Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, has criticized former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido over his recent comments on the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, describing them as false and misleading. Lamido had alleged that President Bola Tinubu supported the annulment and that his late mother, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, mobilized market women to support the military regime.
Alake dismissed the claims as “lies from the pit of hell,” insisting that Tinubu was a key figure in the fight to reclaim Chief Moshood Abiola’s stolen mandate. He said Lamido’s account was either a product of memory loss or a deliberate attempt to rewrite history.
The minister accused Lamido, then Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), of betraying Abiola by endorsing the National Interim Government (NIG) proposed by the military after annulling the election. He said Lamido and other SDP leaders traded away the democratic mandate for political expediency.
According to Alake, Tinubu played a pivotal role in Abiola’s emergence as SDP’s candidate at the Jos Convention, particularly in persuading Atiku Abubakar to step down and support Abiola’s candidacy after the first round of voting ended in a stalemate.
Alake explained that the SDP was formed through the merger of two factions—the People’s Front led by the late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, to which Tinubu belonged, and the People’s Solidarity Party, led by leaders like Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Chief Adekunle Ajasin.
He maintained that Tinubu invested everything he had in Abiola’s campaign and remained active in the pro-democracy struggle even after the annulment. Alake rejected the claim that NADECO was created to support Gen. Sani Abacha, stating it was formed to resist military dictatorship and demand the restoration of the June 12 mandate.
Alake added that contrary to Lamido’s narrative, Tinubu had earned his political credibility well before the annulment and had been deeply involved in democratic activism. He described Lamido’s version as a cover-up of his own role in undermining Abiola’s victory.
The minister concluded by asserting that Tinubu stood firm for democracy, while Lamido and the SDP leadership compromised the will of the Nigerian people. He called Lamido’s statements revisionist and a desperate attempt to rewrite history in his favour.
