Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu supported the annulment of the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election, insisting the President was “deeply involved” in the fight to restore the late MKO Abiola’s mandate.

Alake, who was editor of Sunday Concord at the time — a newspaper owned by Abiola — said on Arise Television that he was not only a chronicler of the June 12 struggle but also an “active participant observer.”

Reacting to recent remarks by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, who alleged that Tinubu only became relevant in the June 12 movement after the annulment, Alake described the claim as “false,” “revisionist,” and “an attempt to cover his own pernicious role.”

“I wrote MKO Abiola’s first public declaration to run for president in January 1993. I advertised it in all Nigerian newspapers, radio, and television stations. I was in the vortex of the June 12 saga,” Alake said.

He added that Tinubu played a major role in persuading fellow aspirant Atiku Abubakar to step down for Abiola during the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential primaries held in Jos in March 1993. “Tinubu was instrumental in the negotiations at Cante Bellow’s house in Jos, with the late General Shehu Yar’Adua presiding,” he said.

Alake also dismissed Lamido’s claim that Tinubu backed the annulment, noting that the former Lagos governor was one of the brains behind early protests that followed the cancellation of the poll.

“The protests of June and July 1993 were planned and executed with Tinubu as one of the organisers. Where was Lamido then?” he asked.

Alake recounted moments with Abiola in the wake of the annulment, including a meeting where Tinubu helped secure flight clearance for Abiola to attend a condolence visit in Katsina.

According to him, after General Sani Abacha seized power in November 1993, Tinubu also accompanied Abiola to a crucial meeting with the new military ruler to negotiate a path for restoring his mandate.

“That famous photo of MKO, Tinubu, and Abacha? Tinubu escorted Abiola that day to negotiate with Abacha. I was there. It had been discussed and arranged the night before,” Alake stated.

He accused Lamido of “selective amnesia” and challenged his role during the critical days following the annulment. “Tinubu threw everything into the struggle from day one,” he said.

The June 12, 1993, election is widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest, won by Abiola but annulled by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, plunging the country into political unrest.