Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on 12 June 1993, the first since the 1983 military coup ended the country's Second Republic. The elections was the outcome of a transitional process to civilian rule spearheaded by the military ruler, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. The unofficial result of the election – though not declared by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) – indicated a victory for Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who defeated Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC).[1][2] The winner of the election was thus never declared as the elections were annulled by Babangida, citing electoral irregularities.[3][4] The annulment led to protests and political unrest, including the resignation of IBB and a weak interim civilian government, and culminated in the continuation of military rule in the country with Sani Abacha ascending to power as the military head of state via a bloodless coup later in the year.[5]
Background
Major General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) came to power on 27 August 1985 through a palace coup that ousted Major General Muhammadu Buhari.[3][1][6] In January 1986, Babangida and his Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) initiated a transition process for the return to civilian rule, setting October 1990 as the date for this return.[3][7] A decree in 1987 established the National Electoral Commission to oversee the electoral process.[citation needed] The IBB government also established the Political Bureau, under the chairmanship of Professor Sam Cookey, to proffer advice on this transition.[8] The Bureau's 1987 report recommended facilitating political competition to bridge ethnic and religious divides in the country.[3][1] Babangida proceeded to shift the hand-over date to 1992 stating its necessity for the transfer to civilian rule.[1] Through Decree 25 of 1987, he banned politicians and public officials of the Second Republic from participating in political activities of the Third Republic.[8][9] In May 1989, Babangida lifted the ban on political parties.[3][10]
The IBB government during this period foiled coup attempts – one led by Major General Mamman Vatsa in 1987, and another in 1990 led by Major Gideon Orkar.[10] The government was active in creating new states, with the number of states rising from 21 in September 1987 to 30 in September 1991. Local governments also increased, doubling to almost 600 by 1993.[3] The government continued to move the date of the civilian hand-over: at one time set for January 1993, and then 27 August 1993.[10]
Primaries and nominations
Several parties submitted applications to the NEC following the removal of restrictions on political associations, but only six were deemed by the NEC to meet its requirements.[3][10] According to the NEC, it could not verify most of the claims of these associations, and they were handicapped by poor organizational structures and finances.[9] However, in October 1989, IBB rejected these selected political parties submitted by the NEC for approval, accusing them of being ethnically and regionally polarized and riddled with factions.[7][4] He went on to form two new parties in December 1989: the National Republican Convention – with right-leaning politics, and the Social Democratic Party – with left-leaning politics.[8][5] The government provided the initial funding for these parties, though soon after the parties were funded through private sources.[3][5] The government also provided the parties with office space, comprising 500 locations at national, state and local levels.[11][6] The military government spent billions of naira on the transition, with NEC receiving a significant portion of this to conduct the elections.[6][9] The government was also heavily involved in the formulation of party manifestos and constitutions.[1][5] The government through the Centre for Democratic Studies trained members of the two parties on electoral techniques.[3]
Local government elections were held in 1987 and 1991, while state government elections for houses of assembly and governorship were held in 1991 and 1992.[6][9] Presidential primaries for the two parties were held in August and September 1992, but these were cancelled by Babangida citing electoral fraud.[1][5] The candidates who participated in these primaries were barred from contesting again, and this included prominent figures such as Lt General (rtd.) Shehu Yar’Adua and Adamu Ciroma.[7] During this period, IBB restructured the military government – the AFRC replaced by the National Defence and Security Council.[5] A civilian Transitional Council was created to deal with government administrative and economic tasks. The council was led by Chief Ernest Shonekan – a prominent corporate executive from the south-west region.[3][1][5]
The new nomination process supervised by the NEC involved a knockout contest from the local to the national level, using an open ballot system – Option A4.[5] The nomination process resulted in the emergence of Bashir Tofa, a businessman from the north, and MKO Abiola, a multimillionaire media mogul from the south – both Muslim – as presidential candidates for the NRC and SDP respectively.[3][1][5] There was a perception that both candidates had close ties to the military, and therefore their election would not disfavor the military even in a civilian government.[1][2]
In the Second Republic, both presidential candidates were involved with the ruling party – the National Party of Nigeria.[12] Abiola had failed to secure the nomination of the NPN for the 1983 presidential elections against Shehu Shagari, the incumbent president.[10] He had only been part of the SDP for a month when he gained the presidential ticket.[5] Though Abiola was widely known throughout the country, Tofa was relatively unknown except in his home state of Kano.[5]
Tofa picked as vice-president Sylvester Ugoh, a Christian from the south-east, thereby creating a regional and religious balance. Abiola also went for regional balance, picking an ex-diplomat and former Chairman of the party from the north-east, Baba Gana Kingibe as his running mate.[5] Abiola's campaign focused on economic issues, and he was a vocal critic of the government's structural adjustment program (SAP). The Babaginda government had commenced the SAP in 1986, and following prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, he imposed austerity measures to ensure fiscal discipline by the state.[3][1] Tofa, given his party's support of the SAP, was a less vocal critic, and focused on the effective implementation of policies in his campaign.[5] Tofa was perceived to have closer ties with Babangida and the military: he had once suggested Babangida remain president till 2000.[8]
Results
On 10 June, just two days before the election, an organization with ties to the military, Association for a Better Nigeria – led by Chief Arthur Nzeribe – obtained a high court injunction against the holding of the election on the basis of alleged corruption.[2][3] The chairman of the NEC, Humphrey Nwosu, dismissed the injunction citing the high court's lack of authority on election-related matters.[2][9][10] The NEC went ahead to stage the election, which was deemed to be free and fair by observers.[5] These observers included foreign and local journalists, delegates from the Commonwealth and other international bodies, as well as observers from the Election Monitoring Group (trained by the Centre for Democratic Studies).[5] Voter turnout was low - about 35%. There were administrative and political problems, however no episodes of serious violence were recorded.[1] The NEC began announcing the first batch of election results on 14 June:[10] Abiola won 19 out of 30 states, and the Federal Capital Territory. He won all the states of the south-west; three of the seven states in the south-east; five of the nine northern states including Kano, Tofa's state; and four out of the seven states in the central middle belt.[5] Of the 6.6 million votes that had been announced, Abiola had received 4.3 million and Tofa 2.3 million.[7] If Abiola had been declared the winner, he would have been at that time the first southerner to be elected as president of Nigeria, breaking through ethno-religious divides having received support from all regions of the country.[2][13]
The Association for a Better Nigeria obtained another court injunction on 15 June to halt the counting and verification.[3][10] This time however, the NEC accepted the injunction and announced via Radio Nigeria on 16 June that it was suspending its announcement of the results, indicating it was prohibited by a court order.[2] The final vote was leaked on 18 June by democracy activists defying the law, revealing Abiola won by a 58% majority.[1][2] On 24 June, IBB announced the annulment of the election, citing the issue of vote buying, as well as the need to protect the country's judiciary.[3][4] Ahead of the elections, there were suggestions that the military leadership were uneasy about a possible presidency of Abiola and would not accept the result if he had won.[5]
Aftermath
There were a series of violent protests in July in the south-west region following the annulment.[1][5] It is estimated that security forces killed over 100 people while quelling riots.[14] The Igbo population in Lagos were also reported to have fled to their states in the eastern region as the tension was palpable.[12] There was international condemnation of the annulment: the United Kingdom, United States and European Union suspended aid to Nigeria, and the Commonwealth condemned the annulment. The military government however accused foreign governments of meddling in its affairs and attempting to destabilize the country.[2] Former military rulers Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as ten other former generals – as part of the Association for Democracy and Good Governance – issued a joint statement demanding the removal of Babangida from power.[2][12]
In the aftermath of the election, the government proscribed or shut down media houses, and arrested journalists.[2] The government issued decrees preventing court cases on the annulled election.[4] NEC's activities were terminated.[1]
In early August, Abiola flew to London and Washington to seek international support for his presidency – he subsequently returned in 24 September.[2][12] There was another wave of civil unrest in the south-west, with banks and businesses shutting down.[12] Babangida was pressured by the Defence Council to stick to the handover date, and he therefore resigned on 26 August. The country was ruled by an Interim National Government headed by Ernest Shonekan, with Sani Abacha, a confidant of Babangida, serving as Defence Minister.[1][5]
Shonekan set a date for another election in February 1994.[8] However, his position was tenuous. He was named head of the government, but there was ambiguity on whether he also had command of the armed forces as its commander-in-chief.[6] In early November 1993, a Lagos High Court ruled that the decree establishing the interim government was not properly signed – it was signed by Babaginda after his removal from the presidency, thus making the government illegal.[12] The interim government had to contend with a failing economy, with debt and inflation rising and the currency weakened. Nigeria was ranked by the World Bank as among the 20 poorest in the world.[7] To revive the economy, Shonekan resumed talks with the IMF and World Bank and the took the unpopular decision to remove subsidies on petroleum products, thereby raising the price by 700%. The Nigerian Labour Congress went on strike over the price increase.[9][12] However, on 17 November 1993, Abacha toppled the interim government in a palace coup.[6] Abacha dissolved the legislature, as well as the state and local governments, and replaced the elected civilian state governors with military and police officers.[6][12] He also banned all political activities.[6] Abacha established two governing institutions - the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) and Federal Executive Council.[7] Abacha's new cabinet was composed of civilian politicians, including Abiola's running mate Baba Gana Kingibe as Foreign Minister.[7][12] Abacha proceeded to create a Constitutional Conference for a transition to civilian rule.[14] The conference began on 18 January 1994, though one-third of the delegates for the conference were nominated by the government, and the PRC could veto decisions of the conference.[6]
Abiola was arrested and charged with treason in June 1994 after he declared himself president and commander-in-chief.[6][10] Abiola's arrest led to protests and strikes by workers in the petroleum sector, banking sector and academia for nine weeks. The strike by the petroleum sector paralyzed the economy. The Abacha government subsequently arrested union leaders and dismissed civilian members of his cabinet.[14]
The government in March 1995 announced an alleged coup attempt.[14] Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and Beko Ransome-Kuti were among those secretly tried and either sentenced to death or received lengthy prison sentences. Backlash from the international community resulted in lesser penalties - Yar'dua's death penalty and Obasanjo's life sentence were reduced.
In October 1995, Abacha set a timeframe of three years to hand over power to a civilian government.[14] Sani Abacha died on 8 June 1998; Abiola died a month later while in detention on 7 July 1998.[4]
Legacy
In 2018 Muhammadu Buhari, now a civilian president of Nigeria under its Fourth Republic, declared 12 June – the date of the annulled 1993 election as the new date for the celebration of Democracy Day.[15] The previous Democracy Day was 29 May, the date of the return to civilian rule in May 1999 following Abacha's regime.[16]
Related Research Articles
Sani Abacha ; was a Nigerian Army General and politician who ruled as the military head of state after seizing power in 1993 until his death in 1998. Abacha's seizure of power was the last successful coup d'état in Nigerian military history.
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida is a Nigerian retired general and statesman who served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Chief of Army Staff, going on to orchestrate his seizure of power in a coup d'état against Muhammadu Buhari.
Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan was a Nigerian lawyer and statesman who served as the interim head of state of Nigeria from 26 August 1993 to 17 November 1993. He was titled Abese of Egbaland from 1981.
Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, also known as M. K. O. Abiola was a Nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician. He was the honorary supreme military commander of the Oyo Empire and an aristocrat of the Egba clan.
Shehu Musa Yar'Adua ; 5 March 1943 – 8 December 1997) was a Nigerian general and politician who was the de facto vice president of Nigeria as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters when Nigeria was under military rule from 1976 to 1979. He was a prominent politician during the later transition from military to civilian rule in the late 1980s and into the 1990s.
Bashir Othman Tofa was a Nigerian politician. A Kanuri Muslim who hailed from Kano State, Tofa was the National Republican Convention (NRC) candidate in the annulled Nigeria's 12 June 1993 presidential election, which was organised by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.
Babagana Kingibe OV GCON is a Nigerian diplomat, politician and civil servant who has held several high ranking government offices, culminating in his appointment as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation from 2007 to 2008. He spent over a decade in the Foreign Service cadre and has been in politics since the 1970s serving six heads of state; most recently as a member of the inner circle of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1992 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. In the Third Republic, there were democratically elected state governors and state assemblies and a democratically elected federal legislature. The republic was however not fully democratic as there was no democratically elected civilian president. The then military president Ibrahim Babangida's supposed transition eventually turned out to be a ploy to keep executive powers and grant the National Assembly limited legislative powers. Hence all laws passed by the Senate and House of Representatives will have to pass the National Defence and Security Council of Nigeria and finally approved by the President. So while Babangida changed the usual style adopted by preceding military leaders from Head of State to President, he will continue to postpone presidential elections and eventually annul the ultimate one held on 12 June 1993. The Third Republic can thus be described as half military and half civilian.
The Nigerian Political Bureau of 1986 was established by General Ibrahim Babangida shortly after coming to power in the 1985 Nigerian coup d'état. The bureau was inaugurated to conduct a national debate on the political future of Nigeria, and was charged amongst other things to "Review Nigeria’s political history and identify the basic problems which have led to our failure in the past and suggest ways of resolving and coping with these problems." The exercise was the broadest political consultation conducted in Nigerian history.
Abdul Azeez Kolawole Adeyemo, popularly known as 'Alhaji how are you', was a Nigerian and prominent Yoruba politician. He was born in Ado-Ekiti the Ekiti State capital to Sir. Rufai Adeyemo & Princess Adebolarin Agunsoye. Growing up as a Catholic during the British colonial era, he later converted to Islam. He became a politician early in his career. He joined the Western Region campaign of Egbe Omo Oduduwa founded by Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo. He was also a front-line member of Action Group political party which later metamorphosed into Unity Party of Nigeria. His main legacy was to secure democracy and good governance in post independent Nigeria.
Chief Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya was a Nigerian politician, lawyer, activist, welfarist, and liberal progressive.
Abdulkareem Adisa was a Nigerian major general who was military governor of Oyo State during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida. He was convicted for involvement in an attempted coup against military head of state General Sani Abacha in 1997, and was on death row when Abacha died in June 1998. He was subsequently pardoned.
Lawan Gwadabe is a Nigerian military officer, he was Military Administrator of Niger State in Nigeria from December 1987 to January 1992 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida. Gwadabe was one of the few men in the army enjoyed the best of life, training and privilege, known for his peculiar swagger, and handsomeness.He was accused of planning a coup against General Sani Abacha in 1995, for which he was jailed, tortured and convicted of treason. After Abacha's death he was granted a state pardon.
Alhaji Sa'idu Barda is a Nigerian politician who was elected on the National Republican Convention (NRC) platform as Governor of Katsina State, Nigeria, holding office between January 1992 and November 1993 during the Nigerian Third Republic. He remained active in politics in the Nigerian Fourth Republic.
Professor Humphrey Nwosu. He was chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) appointed by President Ibrahim Babangida. An office he held from 1989 to 1993.
Since Nigeria became independent in 1960, there have been five military coup d'états in Nigeria. Between 1966 and 1999, Nigeria was ruled by a military government without interruption, apart from a short-lived return to democracy under the Second Nigerian Republic of 1979 to 1983. However, the most recent coup occurred in 1993, and there have been no significant further attempts under the Fourth Nigerian Republic, which restored multi-party democracy in 1999.
The Interim National Government was the government of Nigeria following the crisis of the Third Republic after General Ibrahim Babangida handed power over to Ernest Shonekan as interim Head of State on 27 August 1993. The largely powerless government was dissolved when General Sani Abacha seized power on 17 November 1993.
The Campaign for Democracy (CD) is a Nigerian civil society group that advocates for greater democracy in Nigeria. The group was first organized in the early 1990s to demand an end to the country's military dictatorship. The coalition organized demonstrations, strikes, and other civil resistance actions against the regime of Nigerian president Ibrahim Babangida from 1991–1993, particularly against the nullification of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election. At its peak, the coalition had more than 40 affiliated groups.
The 1993 Nigerian coup d'état was a bloodless military coup which took place in Nigeria on 17 November 1993 when the Armed Forces, headed by Defence Minister General Sani Abacha, forced Interim President Chief Ernest Shonekan to resign. Shonekan assumed the interim presidency on 26 August 1993, succeeding General Ibrahim Babangida as head of state, in the aftermath of Babangida's annulment of the 12 June 1993 presidential election. In a nationwide broadcast following the coup, Abacha cited the stagnant nature of Shonekan's government, and his inability to manage the democratic process in the country as a cause of his resignation. In September 1994, Abacha issued a decree that placed his government above the jurisdiction of the courts, effectively giving him absolute power. Another decree gave him the right to detain anyone for up to three months.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 News from Africa Watch (27 August 1993). "Nigeria, Democracy Derailed: Hundreds Arrested and Press Muzzled in Aftermath of Election Annulment". Human Rights Watch. 5 (11): 1–21.
1 2 3 4 5 Ogbeidi, Michael M. (2010). "A Culture of Failed Elections: Revisiting Democratic Elections in Nigeria, 1959-2003". Historia Actual Online. 21: 43–56.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Obi-Ani, Paul; Obi-Ani, Ngozika A. (December 2010). "Annulment of June 12, 1993 Presidential Election: A Reappraisal". International Journal of Communication. 12: 1–15.
↑ Mahmud, Sakah (1993). "The Failed Transition to Civilian Rule in Nigeria: Its Implications for Democracy and Human Rights". Africa Today. 40 (4): 87–95. JSTOR4186945.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Nigeriaportal 
