The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Print Media, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, has fired back at former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, describing his claims on the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election as “revisionist” and “unfounded.”
Lamido had alleged during a recent interview on Arise Television that President Tinubu was “a major supporter” of General Ibrahim Babangida, the military ruler who annulled the election, and only became relevant after General Sani Abacha seized power.
“Tinubu became relevant and noticeable after Abacha took over the government,” Lamido claimed. “He was part of those who supported Babangida’s annulment of June 12… His own mother, Hajiya Mogaji from Lagos, organised the Lagos market women to Abuja to support Babangida.”
But Abdulaziz, reacting via his verified Facebook page, dismissed the remarks as both misleading and historically dishonest.
“When I watched HE Sule Lamido’s revisionist claims on Arise TV yesterday morning, what came to my mind was Mahmud Jega’s 2011 piece, ‘Why is This Man Bragging?’” Abdulaziz wrote.
He drew on journalist Mahmud Jega’s account of an interview with Lamido shortly after the annulment of the June 12 election, during which, according to Abdulaziz, Lamido failed to condemn the military junta’s action despite being National Secretary of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).
“Jega had travelled to Kano to interview Lamido on the party’s reaction to the annulment of the election… The journalist did all he could to get Sule Lamido to condemn or at least give a strong reaction to the military’s annulment… Lamido refused,” Abdulaziz recounted. “It was a cat and mouth chase that produced nothing… Jega titled his piece ‘Stonewalled Sule’.”
He continued, “It’s surprising a National Secretary who couldn’t stand for his own party when it mattered would now have mouth to talk and throw accusations.”
Abdulaziz urged Nigerians to revisit credible historical records, including public statements and interviews from those close to the pro-democracy struggle, to properly understand President Tinubu’s role in opposing military rule.
“For Tinubu’s involvement with Abiola and the June 12 struggle, watch his son, Jamiu Abiola’s interview on Channels TV as part of the channel’s town hall on June 12, 2025. Also, Dele Alake’s deeply intimate account of events from last night on Arise TV,” he said.
He concluded with a jab at Lamido: “Those who lacked the courage to resist military tyranny when it mattered most should not rewrite history to suit present grudges.”
