Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and 1999 presidential candidate, Olu Falae, has claimed that he, not Olusegun Obasanjo, won the election that ushered Nigeria back to civilian rule.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Thursday as part of the Democracy Day programming, Falae alleged that the results of the 1999 presidential election were manipulated to deny him victory.
According to the elder statesman, a legal analysis of the vote tallies conducted by his late legal counsel, J.O.K. Ajayi, showed that he defeated Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party by over one million votes.
“I was told by my lawyer, the late Chief JOK Ajayi, that I won the election by over a million votes after a meticulous assessment of the figures declared,” Falae stated.
Despite the findings, he said his team chose not to challenge the outcome in court, prioritising the country’s fragile return to civilian governance after years of military rule.
“But we decided not to go to court. We were more concerned about the country returning to democracy peacefully after years of military rule,” he explained.
Falae’s comments have revived lingering debates from Nigeria’s transitional era, which followed the death of General Sani Abacha and the interim leadership of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who oversaw the shift to democratic rule.
The 1999 general elections were widely regarded as a political compromise, particularly to placate the South-West region following the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election believed to have been won by MKO Abiola.
Falae’s candidacy, backed by a coalition of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the All Peoples Party (APP), was perceived as an olive branch to the Yoruba. At the same time, Obasanjo—also a Yoruba and former military Head of State—ran under the PDP with significant backing from the military and political elite.
“There was so much pressure not to rock the boat. We made sacrifices for democracy to return. I accepted it in good faith then, but the truth must be told: I won that election,” Falae said during the interview.
“It’s not about me. It’s about the truth. Nigeria deserves to know the real story behind its so-called democratic rebirth,” he added.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s democratic journey, Falae lamented the persistent lack of electoral credibility, arguing that since 1993, the country has struggled to conduct free and fair elections despite maintaining democratic rule since 1999.
