Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has reflected on how his late political mentor, Shehu Yar’adua, instructed him to step down for Chief Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, during the primaries of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He also explained why Abiola reneged on an agreement with Yar’adua to name him (Atiku) as his running mate after securing the ticket.
“I think there have been some misinterpretation or misrepresentation of what actually happened, even though I had in the past addressed the circumstances surrounding that incident,” he said.
Atiku recounted that after the first ballot, he called Yar’adua, who was in Kaduna at the time due to a political ban, and told him that Babagana Kingibe was poised to win if he didn’t intervene.
“So I told him, ‘Look, if you don’t come to Jos, there is every likelihood that Babagana Kingibe is going to be elected, and I know you don’t want it. So you better come to Jos, no matter how late.’
“And he drove all the way from Kaduna to Jos. By the time he came to Jos, it was about three or four a.m. And he called for a meeting in Alhaji Yahaya Kwande’s house. I do not know what he discussed with the late MKO Abiola. I was not privy to the meeting, and he did not tell me. But when we got to the meeting in Ambassador Kwande’s house, all he told me was that, ‘Turaki.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ He said, ‘Step down for MKO Abiola.’ I said, ‘Okay, sir. I have stepped down.’”
Atiku said he later learnt that SDP governors pressured Abiola to choose Kingibe instead.
“They threatened him and said, ‘Look, if you don’t take Kingibe, we are not going to support you.’ And the reason being that, all of them got their tickets when Kingibe was the chairman of SDP and Abiola felt that it was a risk worth taking.”
According to Atiku, Abiola ultimately abandoned his agreement with Yar’adua and picked Kingibe.
(Daily trust)
