A rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked former military ruler, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida not to set up his proposed presidential library because the project already suffers from humongous credibility deficits.
HURIWA premised its position on what it described as “the negative reactions the autobiography of General Babangida has attracted since it was presented to the public,” arguing that the negative responses “show that the management of Babangida Presidential Library, when and if set up, would need to bribe potential readers to visit the library since virtually every claim encompassed in that book by Babangida has come under intense scrutiny, just as millions of Nigerians perceive those claims as not credible and are generally untrustworthy.”
In a statement by its national coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA also described as “deplorable and despicable”, the shifting of blame outside of himself as made during the recent public launch of IBB’s autobiography ‘ A journey in service’, for the cancellation of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
In addition, HURIWA said for General Babangida to have set up a committee with then military ruling council over the June 12 poll already concluded by the then National Electoral Commission, was a clear sign that Babangida never intended to let the presidential poll be held as provided by even the decree his military junta promulgated.
HURIWA further noted that the late professor Humphrey Nwosu, who conducted the June 12th election, had clearly established that the military council headed by General Babangida annulled the June 12 election, in his book, ‘Laying Foundation for Nigeria’s Democracy: My Account of June 12, 1993 Presidential Election’.
The human rights group, in its preliminary reaction to the autobiography of the erstwhile military leader, also accused General Babangida of failing to provide any irrefutable and credible evidence to justify the public execution of his classmate/course mate, General Mamman Vatsa.
Babangida’s statement in his autobiography that the late Vatsa had always disrespected him since their secondary school days when he was the head boy demonstrates that deep-seated personal animosity of Babangida towards General Vasta may have led to the decision to try him for a phantom coup and then execute him alongside many others, HURIWA agonised.
HURIWA sneered at a chapter of the 420-page book where General Babangida explained the circumstances that led to the cancellation of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, quoting an excerpt from that chapter.
Babangida wrote: “I would later find out that the ‘forces’ led by General Sani Abacha annulled the elections. There and then, I knew I was caught between ‘a devil and the deep blue sea’!! From then on, the June 12 elections took on a painful twist for which, as I will show later, I regrettably took responsibility.”
Recalling the incidents that led to the annulment, Babangida was quoted to have said: “A group known as the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), led by Arthur Nzeribe had filed the lawsuit that Nzeribe was close to him, but denied supporting the activities of ABN.
“From out of nowhere, on June 10, two days before the presidential election, the same shadowy group, ABN, which had been campaigning for an extension of military rule, approached the Abuja High Court of Justice Bassey Ikpeme for an injunction to stop NEC (National Electoral Commission) from conducting the elections,” he said in his memoir.
“Unknown to me at the time, Justice Ikpeme, who was relatively young at the Bench, had worked in the chambers of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Clement Akpamgbo. Strangely, Justice Ikpeme, in the dead of night, in clear violation of Decree 13, which barred any court from interfering with NEC’s conduct or scheduling of the elections, granted the ABN an injunction stopping NEC from conducting the June 12 elections. There was confusion everywhere.”
He said he quickly convened an emergency meeting of the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC), the country’s highest governing body, to discuss the way forward.
HURIWA, therefore, wonders how General Babangida would blame Professor Humphrey Nwosu partly for the annulment of the poll, when in actual fact Professor Humphrey Nwosu in his 2008 book ‘Laying the Foundation for Nigeria’s Democracy: An Account of June 12th, 1993 Presidential Election and its annulment, had clearly blamed the military ruling council headed by General Babangida for the election annulment.
Humphrey Nwosu wrote thus: “Before the Chairman’s broadcast, which was aired during the Nigerian Television Authority’s 9:00m news was concluded, two legal officers of NEC, Director of Legal Services, Buhari Bello and his Assistant, Tony Ojukwu, arrived at my residence at Mambilla Street, Maitama, Abuja. It was around 9:30 pm. They came in to inform me of the “Bomb Shell”—the sad news that Abuja High Court presided over by Hon. Justice Bassey Ikpeme had issued an interim injunction restraining NEC from conducting the presidential election on June 12, 1993. This was at the instance of Suit No. FCT/HC/M/299/93 between one Abimbola Davies for himself, and representing the members of a so-called Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), and the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NEC), Attorney General of the Federation, National Defence and Security Council, and then–President of Nigeria.
“I tried to reach the President through the telephone. The line was continuously ringing engaged. Meanwhile, there was a collection of many senior officers of the commission who appeared confused and worried about our next possible line of action in order to save the June 12 presidential election.
“As I was unable to contact the President, I decided to visit the residence of the Attorney General of the Federation. On my arrival, he appeared surprised as he was not expecting me. He was conferring with Barrister Philip Umeadi, SAN, who was the same Counsel for Abimbola Davies and his Association for Better Nigeria. Immediately Barrister Umeadi, an experienced Senior Advocate of Nigeria who knew me very well, saw me, he uttered, `Humphrey, I do not want to do anything with NEC’, and left me alone with the Attorney General of Federation. He entered one of the rooms in the Attorney General’s residence.
“There and then I directed Buhari Bello to accompany me to the meeting of the NDSC scheduled for 10 am. Initially, he was reluctant to attend partly on the grounds that he was not properly and formally dressed as a lawyer and partly because NEC was not invited to the meeting, and then the tight security at Aso Rock.
“The President turned to us and asked what the purpose was. I explained to the President and members of the Council that our visit was in connection with the June 12 presidential election. That our position is that the election should go on as scheduled. I stated, among other things, that, by virtue of Section 19 of Decree 13 of 1993, the said order of the honourable court shall have no effect on the date or timing of holding the presidential election on June 12, 1993.
“The President, after weighing the arguments on both sides of the divide, was convinced that NEC’s position was quite tenable and that the Abuja High Court order would not stop us from conducting the June 12 presidential election.
“We were about to share a smile of victory when we heard the shuffling of papers and legs. And as we looked up, we heard the collective voice of the military colleagues of the President saying, `We are not a banana Republic. No one should tell us what to do. Postpone the election at least for one week to prove that we are a sovereign nation’.
“I assured him, the President, that we had concluded a near-perfect arrangement to ensure a hitch-free presidential election tomorrow. Furthermore, if the postponement had to be done, it should be postponed not for one week but for three months as all the voting cards would be abandoned and fresh ones printed. Otherwise, the ensuing election would be the most rigged exercise in Nigerian electoral history. I told the President that if he allowed the election to take place and thereafter hand over to a democratically elected President, he would go down in history as our greatest President.
“For him not to allow the election to go on will be giving credence to all those in the wider society and the media who had accused him of a hidden agenda. Our advice might have pleased the President and displeased some of his colleagues who did not want the election to take place. They wondered why he should listen to a civilian official who was not even a member of the ruling council. It is, therefore, because the President accepted our advice and considered the wider interest of the nation, that he gave me the directive to go ahead with the June 12 presidential election.
Opposition against the result
“The election was held in all local government areas in the country except in two Ogoni LGAs in Rivers State. In the two local government areas in Rivers State, elections failed to take place not because of the unpreparedness of our commission, but because the people refused to come out to vote for different grudges against the Federal Government.
“Undoubtedly, with almost all the results known, the opposition against the election rose very high within the hierarchy of some senior military officials. While the majority of the National Commissioners were already congratulating themselves and the Chairman for conducting the freest and fairest presidential election in Nigeria’s electoral history, they were looking forward to receiving national honours for a job well done. The tension in the armed forces and the restlessness of the civil society led to the spate of court injunctions,” Professor Humphrey Nwosu had claimed.
