By Editor
‘Tinubu will be re-elected in 2027’
The senator representing Abia North in the National Assembly, Orji Uzor Kalu, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to posthumously declare the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, the late Basorun Moshood Abiola, a former president.
Kalu said Abiola’s portrait should also be hung among the portraits of Nigeria’s past presidents.
The former Abia State governor also expressed confidence that President Tinubu would win the 2027 election, urging fellow Nigerians to support him.
Kalu spoke yesterday in Abuja at the National Assembly while addressing Senate correspondents on his way to the chambers for the day’s plenary.
The Abia North senator said he was seeking the recognition following the revelation former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), made that Abiola won the June 12, 1993 presidential election, adjudged to be the freest and fairest poll conducted in the country.
IBB, had in his memoirs: “A Journey in Service: An Autobiography,” admitted that the late business mogul won the 1993 poll.
Kalu, regarded as one of ‘IBB’s Boys’, told Senate correspondents that with Babangida’s latest revelations, the controversy over the election had been laid to rest, hence the need for President Tinubu to posthumously declare the late Abiola one of Nigeria’s former Presidents.
Responding to a question, Kalu said: “Yes, Abiola won the election. And I will say President Tinubu should declare him a president posthumously.
“Since Abiola won, his picture should be placed among Nigeria’s past presidents. I commend former President (Muhammadu) Buhari for giving him a posthumous national honour, but I would also appeal to President Tinubu to officially recognise him and place his image where it belongs.
“This would help bring succour to his family.”
On Tuesday, June 12, 2018, former President Buhari conferred on the late Abiola the nation’s highest honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) and declared June 12 of every year the nation’s Democracy Day, replacing the May 29 date for the celebration of Democracy Day under previous governments since the birth of the Fourth Republic.
Abiola’s eldest son, Kola, received the honours in the presence of other family members at a ceremony in Abuja, presided over by then President Buhari.
The Buhari administration also conferred on Abiola’s running mate, Babagana Kingibe, the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON).
Reflecting on IBB’s eight-year military rule and what the controversial book captured, Kalu admitted that the narrative was incomplete.
He urged the former military leader to write the Part II of the book, to be devoted largely to unanswered questions around the June 12 election, particularly the persons he claimed forced him to annul the results.
“I look forward to the second edition of Babangida’s book because the first did not reveal all the realities.
“I was present during the events of June 12, and I know what happened. Babangida should call out the names of those responsible for preventing the election declaration.”
Kalu also responded to some other claims in IBB’s book, including the 1966 coup.
He said: “The coup in question was not an Igbo coup; it was a Nigerian coup, executed by the military. Moshood Abiola won that (1993) election, and there is no doubt about it.”
The Abia North senator was upbeat about President Tinubu’s chances in 2027.
He said: “Yes, Asiwaju will win in 2027,” in response to a question.
“This is continuity; it means Asiwaju, continue. Many Nigerian presidents who did not perform well still won a second term.
“We are appealing to Nigerians to be patient with the reform process. We are not looking for another presidential candidate outside of our party; we are fully aligned with democratic principles and supporting the sitting president.
“The good news is that we will win again in 2027. The president will return, and Nigerians will celebrate with us. That is inevitable
