Lagos — It was a watershed in the nation's political history. But many died and many were killed over June 12. Perhaps, the ghost of June 12 is not likely to go away so soon. Tunde Rahman chronicles the principal actors, those that have a connection with June 12, for good or for bad, but have now lost their lives

Fourteen years after the controversial annulment of the election believed to be the cleanest in the country's electoral history, the poll and what it represents are still relevant today as if all that has come to be known as the June 12 saga happened yesterday. Those who were not born in 1993 when the election took place are now being told how the nation frittered away the opportunity of building on the gains recorded on June 12. Indeed, that poll, as political activists would say, was a watershed in the nation's political history. It was one of the finest moments of the nation.

The election rubbished the much-touted religious balancing in presidential tickets. The Social Democratic Party (SDP), one of the two political parties that went into the poll, had paraded the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola and Alhaji Babagana Kingibe. Local and international observers hailed the election saying it was free and fair and met all the known standards of credible elections. Alas! The agents of darkness went to work, putting spanners in the work for the nation.

That election widely believed to have been won by the late millionaire businessman cum politician, Abiola, was annulled by the military regime of his friend, General Ibrahim Babangida. The annulment came on June 23, 1993 after results from 14 states had emerged, giving clear victory to the late business mogul. The story about how and why the election was annulled and who did what in the circumstances leading to the annulment is yet to be fully told and may unfold some day. Immediate past President Olusegun Obasanjo after many years of denying Abiola his dues in the nation's history added a comic angle to the June 12 saga when he said recently after leaving power that Abiola's election was annulled for "bad belle", a Yoruba word for envy.

But to underscore the continued relevance of June 12, at least two states, Lagos and Ogun, are known to have declared tomorrow, June 12, work-free day in commemoration of the historic event. In Lagos where the late business mogul used to live and where some of his businesses were domiciled, the state government chose June 12 as its Democracy Day as opposed to May 29 picked by the immediate past government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. In Ogun where Abiola hailed from, a statement by the state government called on the residents of the state to use the occasion to reflect on the life and times of the late Abiola who died in the service of the country.

Indeed, the June 12 election is remarkable in more ways than one. Nigerians from all walks of life went into the poll and voted in unison for a leader who had built bridges of friendship across the length and breadth of the country. Apart from breaking the religious barrier, Abiola's election also broke the ethnic barrier. He was reported to have had more votes in the North than in the South. He even defeated his opponent at the poll, the National Republican Convention (NRC)'s Alhaji Bashir Tofa, in his Kano home state. As part of its contribution to the voting process, the election marked the debut of the Modified Open Ballot System where voters would queue up and then vote in secrecy in small enclosures. It heralded the use of the Option A4 system. Both Abiola and Tofa emerged through the Option A4 system where they were thrown up from the ward to the national convention level in Abuja. But as events have turned out so far, that election is also remarkable in the harvest of deaths that has followed since 1993; the harvest of deaths of the principal actors in the June 12 episode.

But while some of these actors and actresses in the June 12 saga were mowed down in the course of their strident agitations for the actualization of the annulled mandate, some others died albeit naturally. The list seems rather long - Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, General Sani Abacha, Abiola, Chief Alfred Rewane, Justice (Mrs.) Bassey Ikpeme and Chief Clement Akpamgbo.

Bashorun MKO Abiola

The late MKO Abiola was a successful businessman by any standards. Many have continued to wonder what Abiola was doing in Nigeria's slippery political terrain. His first foray into politics in the Second Republic was turbulent. He had enlisted in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and opposed the late Obafemi Awolowo and his Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) which held sway in Abiola's South-west. But he got what he bargained for when some NPN chieftains blocked his move to challenge the re-nomination of President Shehu Shagari reminding Abiola that the presidency was not for the highest bidder. In frustration he left the party and resolved never to go back to politics. Abiola steered clear of the Babangida transition programme until late 1992 after the 23 presidential candidates of NRC and SDP who contested the cancelled 1992 presidential primaries were banned and rendered ineligible for the new process called by Babangida.

Abiola was said to have asked his friend, General Babangida if he actually meant to leave the stage. Perhaps with assurance from IBB that the coast was clear, Abiola eventually enlisted in SDP and in no time at al emerged the biggest politician in the party winning the party's presidential ticket at the Jos Convention. On June 12 despite his muslim-muslim ticket, Abiola won the poll with his victory breaking all barriers-ethnic, religious and sectional. But while the results of the poll were still being announced, the Babangida regime annulled the poll. Abiola insisted he would not take the annulment. As protests against the annulment spread, Abiola fled to the United States perhaps to externalize the struggle. By this, the Babangida government was receiving scorn and disdain internationally and on August 27, 1993, Babangida was forced to step aside, paving the ground for the Interim National Government (ING) contraption. In no time at all, Abacha toppled ING headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan.

Abiola returned from abroad to continue the struggle for the actualization of his mandate but his believe that he had a friend in charge was soon proved wrong. Following the attitude of Abacha to June 12, Abiola declared himself president at Epetedo Play ground in Lagos. Abacha which by then had become a maximum ruler ordered the arrest of Abiola, clamped him into detention and charged him for treason. But there was no doubt that Abiola was a political prisoner with many international personalities coming to his detention place to confer with him to forgo his mandate. It was in this situation that Abacha died. The General Abdulsalami Abubakar administration that succeeded Abacha was already negotiating with Abiola but he was said to be resolute in his demand for his mandate. His steadfastness surprised many who thought Abiola would caved in soon. It was during one of those negotiations that Abiola died on July 8, 1998, a month after Abacha died. It was in the presence of a delegation from America. He was said to have died of cardiac arrest after taking a cup of tea. But it was ironic that Abiola died in the presence of the Americans, the same country he thought would help him actualize his mandate.

Alhaja Kudirat Abiola

One of the principal characters in the June 12 saga that was first hacked down was Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the acclaimed winner of the election. Kudirat was killed by agents of the late General Sani Abacha military junta on June 4 1996 at Seven-up junction around the old Toll Gate in Lagos. She was an amazon of the June 12 struggle. She was killed at a time her husband was in incarceration over the annulled poll. At that time, Kudirat had taken over what was then a fiery struggle for the actualisation of the mandate. She was also coordinating Abiola's legal battles for his freedom. Kudirat was a torn in the flesh of the Abacha junta and many were afraid for her life. Some persons including former military officers are still being held in connection with the murder of Kudirat. But Abacha hit man, Sergeant Rogers, who claimed to have repented, had at one point owned up to pulling the trigger that ended Kudirat's life. Though dead, her spirit has continued to live on. Pro-democracy activists have continued to honour her every June 4. The Lagos State Government named the popular Oregun road after her. Her children namely Hafsat and Olalekan are also keeping her memory alive.

Justice Bassey Ikpeme

Not many would forget her in a hurry. Justice Bassey Ikpeme was that "brave" judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja who issued that midnight injunction on June 10 restraining the National Electoral Commission (NEC) from conducting the June 12 election. She gave the injunction based on an application brought by Senator Francis Arthur Nzeribe's Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) seeking to stop the poll. Justice Ikpeme barred NEC from holding the poll but the commission's chairman, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, relying on the outer clause in the Electoral Act insulating the electoral process from court litigations, went ahead to conduct the June 12 poll. Justice Ikpeme was said to be a counsel at one time in the chambers of the late Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Chief Clement Akpamgbo's chambers. There have been many Justice Ikpemes in history who issued their nocturnal injunctions and fell on the wrong side of history. Justice Ikpeme fell sick around 1995 and died later that same year.

General Sani Abacha

If there was one person who did so much to frustrate the actualization of June 12, that person was the late General Sani Abacha. Abacha rode to power in the maze of the turmoil engendered by the agitation for the de-annulment of the June 12 election, which had rendered the Interim Government of Ernest Shonekan lame duck. There were reports that Abiola allegedly entered into a deal with Abacha who was then Chief of Defence Staff of the ING to take over government and hand over power to him (Abiola) after six months. Abiola's meeting with Abacha within hours of Abcaha's toppling of ING also spurred speculations that the reigns of government would be handed over to him. Whether there was any truth in that or not, in the search for legitimacy, some SDP chieftains were appointed into Abacha's cabinet. Abiola's running mate, Kingibe, also came on board as Foreign Affairs Minister. But once Abacha stabilized, he began to show his fangs. He created six new states and established five political parties. He arrested Abiola and clamped him into detention after the politician declared himself president while his trial for treason commenced. The Abacha junta also began clamping down on pro-democracy forces, maiming and killing. The Abacha government emerged the most brutal military dictator in Nigeria's history. By late 1995, at the end of the Constitutional Conference he convened in Abuja, Abacha began dreaming of the idea of self-succession. By early 1997, however, his five political parties dubbed the five fingers of a leprous hand by the late Chief Bola Ige, had adopted the goggled general as the sole presidential candidate in the then impending election. Everything seemed set for Abacha to successfully transmute into a civilian president. Abiola was languishing away in detention. All that was left was for Abacha to be crowned a civilian president but alas, he gave up the ghost on June 8, 1998. After eating apple, Abacha was said to have expired while allegedly frolicking with Indian prostitutes.

Chief Alfred Rewane

Chief Alfred Rewane, an associate of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was known as the major financier of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) which had been formed in late 1994 to demand for the de-annulment of the June 12 election. Rewane believed in the struggle for the actualization of June 12. The Abacha government was uncomfortable with the activities of NADECO and the regime was out to annihilate the movement and anybody associated with it. So brutal was the Abacha junta that the agents of that government were sent after the 86 years-old Rewane in his residence in Ikeja GRA in November 1995 and murdered him.

Chief Clement Akpamgbo

Akpamgbo was Justice Minister and Attorney-General of the Federation under the General Ibrahim Babangida regime. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) President, Akpamgbo was said to be a fine gentleman and an accomplished legal luminary. But he raked in opprobrium for himself as he was said to be the main legal draughtman of the Babangida regime. He introduced most of the outer clauses of the Babangida era. Under Akpamgbo as AGN and Justice Minister, the military government toyed with the idea of outlawing any discussion of June 12 in public. Many criticized Akpamgbo then as trying to proscribe the memory of June 12. Akpamgbo succumbed to the final call on November 19, 2006 after a protracted illness - a long battle with the deadly prostrate cancer ailment. The late Justice Minister went through the ailing period with the determination to survive but after almost two years of fighting the battle, Akpamgbo gave up the ghost in London.