Former National Secretary of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and ex-Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, disclosed that he told former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd), face to face to resign during the crisis following the annulled 1993 presidential election.
In his recently launched autobiography titled Being True to Myself, Lamido shared details of a crucial encounter he had with Babangida at the height of the political turmoil after the election was canceled. The book was unveiled on May 13 and gives new insights into the events around the June 12 crisis.
Lamido recounted how he was summoned unexpectedly early one morning. He said, “I was at the Nicon Noga Hilton hotel suite (now Transcorp Hilton) when my phone rang. The voice said it was Col. Bamalli and told me the Commander-in-Chief wanted to see me immediately.” Confused by the military term, Lamido asked who the C-in-C was, and was told it was the President.
He added, “I said, but I am just waking up, I haven’t even had my bath. Unknown to me, Babangida was on the line and said, ‘Kai Sule, ka zo yanzu’ (Hey Sule, come over right now). I replied, ‘Yes Sir!’”
During the meeting at the Presidential Villa, Lamido was not convinced by Babangida’s explanation for annulling the election, which Babangida said was because MKO Abiola could not take office due to government debts. Lamido felt this was just a way to avoid the truth.
“As the National Secretary of the SDP, I told him, ‘No, the SDP is done with any discussion with the federal military government concerning the June 12 elections. We shall not participate in any new election, as far as we are concerned. It must be June 12 or nothing else.’”
He went on to describe how he firmly rejected the idea of a new political transition Babangida wanted to organize. He also noted that the pressure from groups like the National Democratic Coalition caused some reconsideration in the SDP’s leadership.
During their conversation, Babangida asked Lamido directly, “Sule, what do I do?” To which Lamido said, “Sir, you must resign and leave office.” The former governor said that after this statement, Babangida’s expression changed; he was silent for several minutes and showed visible anger.
