Nigeria’s military president from 1985 to 1993, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), claimed that MKO Abiola, who is thought to have won the June 12, 1993, presidential election, would have been swiftly assassinated if elected president, sparking a second civil war in the nation.

In his autobiography, “A Journey in Service,” which was released on Thursday, IBB, the party that cancelled the election, the June 12 acknowledged that Abiola had won what was deemed to be the freest and fairest election in Nigerian history. Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) defeated his opponent, Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC), according to election results released by the former military ruler.According to IBB, the late Abiola “obtained 8,128,720 votes against Tofa’s 5,848,247 votes and secured the mandatory one-third of the votes cast in 28 states of the federation, including Abuja.

Abiola was later imprisoned by Sani Abacha for claiming to be president. Babangida pointed out that if Abiola had been elected president at the time, he would have been swiftly overthrown by forces working against him. Regretfully, the forces that assembled against him following the June 12 polls were so strong that, if he were elected president, he would be swiftly overthrown by the same forces who claimed to be his allies,” he said in the book.

He thought that the removal of Abiola may spark a civil war, even if he acknowledged that the “unfortunate denial of his mandate amounted to a subversion of the will of the Nigerian people.” The retired commander stated, “I wasn’t ready to witness another civil war, having been a part of one with all its horrors, pains, and destruction.”

“I am pleased that MKO Abiola has finally been acknowledged as a “former head of state” by the Buhari administration.