Former Delta State governor James Ibori on Sunday shared an excerpt from the last interview granted by the late statesman Moshood Abiola.
Abiola ran for the presidency in the June 12, 1993 polls, but the election results were annulled by the preceding military president Ibrahim Babangida on allegations that they were corrupt and unfair.
Abiola is believed to have won the election.
In 1994, Abiola was arrested and jailed on the orders of military ruler Sani Abacha after declaring himself the lawful president of Nigeria.
He died during the four-year detention.
In the video Mr Ibori shared on Instagram, Abiola could be heard telling his interviewer who asked how he would be president while in jail, “Well, (Nelson) Mandela was in jail for 27 years, (Jomo) Kenyatta was in jail. I suppose that is one of the qualifications you need in this part of the world. Don’t worry yourself my friend.”
Ibori captioned the post, “Throwback!!!! The arrest of M.K.O Abiola.”
Abiola is now widely regarded as a symbol of democracy in Nigeria.
On June 6, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari awarded him the GCFR posthumously and changed Nigeria’s Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12.
This year’s Democracy Day celebration was marked by protests in various parts of the country against bad governance.
