Babagana Kingibe, the running mate to late Moshood Abiola, whose victory in the 1993 presidential election was annulled by former military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida, has explained his reason for abandoning the June 12 struggle to join the next military regime of late Sani Abacha.
Kingibe was last year decorated by President Muhammadu Buhari with the title of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), a title reserved for vice presidents.
Abiola, however, died in prison after he was arrested by Abacha. Mr Buhari also gave Abiola a posthumous title as Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).
Despite joining Abacha’s regime as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1993 and 1995, June 12 in Borno State is used to celebrate the ‘son of the soil’ Kingibe.
Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, put up a flamboyant event to mark the inaugural June 12 Democracy Day in honour of Kingibe.
Kingibe said on Sunday during a courtesy visit to the governor that he abandoned the struggle to get back the mandate because of national interest.
“I don’t think the celebration on the actual 12th of June 1993 was any greater than the celebration of the first Democracy Day on June 12,” he said.
Kingibe, also a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said that his decision to take a role in Abacha’s junta was for “national interest which he put above his personal feelings”.
He said: “I have addressed this issue of why I joined Abacha’s government and so on. I know we won the elections on June 12, 1993, I know that injustice was done when those elections were annulled but there is always one guiding principle in my public life which is that the national interest supersedes any other considerations. All my actions have been informed by this consciousness of what is best in the national interest.”
