A member of the family of late Chief MKO Abiola, acclaimed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, Alhaji Olalekan Yushau Abiola, has lamented that in spite of the sacrifices made by the family to entrench democracy in the country, successive governments have not deemed it worthy to reward the family.
Abiola who disclosed in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY pointed out that but for the struggle put up by his father to reclaim his mandate after it was annulled by the then government of military president Ibrahim Babangida, it would have been difficult for people from some sections of the country to aspire to the presidency.
? “June 12 took a lot out of us. My father spent a lot of money to first get through the primaries, and to get the ticket at the Social Democratic Party (SDP) primaries against people like Babagana Kingibe and other powerful politicians.
He noted that a lot of money also went into the general election proper which his father won before the military regime cancelled it which forced his father spend even more money contending against the regime and trying to reclaim his stolen mandate.
“Then, later, Babangida left office and Shonekan took over the interim national government. My father also struggled against that one, too. That also cost a lot of money, organising strike and all that.
“Then Abacha came, and he (Abiola) continued the struggle with Abacha for a couple of months before he was locked up. All that took a lot, you know; we fought basically five governments.
He noted that the family suffered greatly from all these.
“The family has gone through hell. I lost both my parents; all their estates were destroyed. All the money we lost, no one has ever cared; the government has never said to the family: ‘Oh, we are so sorry for locking up your father for four years; we are so sorry for killing your mother; we’re so sorry for seizing your mum’s goods at the ports and closing down your businesses; we’re so sorry for destroying your companies. No one has actually really said sorry.”
“In fact, Obasanjo wouldn’t even mention my father’s name in eight years and then Yar Adua was not feeling that well. Now Goodluck, we haven’t heard much from him yet. So no one has actually acknowledged what we’ve given; no one has actually acknowledged the lot. But we thank God for everything.”
Abiola reiterated the call for the courts to expedite action in the trial of Major Hamza Almustapha for the allegedly assassinating his mother.He lamented that criminal cases in Nigerian courts always took too long. ?