June 12: Your Account of My Father’s Role Untrue, Anenih’s son replies Onanuga

Ose Anenih, son of late Chief Tony Anenih, has described as untrue the account of his father’s involvement in June 12 given by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy.

Daily Trust had reported how a former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, accused President Tinubu of supporting the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Speaking in an interview on Arise TV, Lamido said Tinubu’s late mother, Hajiya Mogaji organised market women from Lagos to Abuja to show support for the then Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

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He said “I feel highly entertained by Tinubu’s rhetoric, the way he’s dramatising his role in Nigeria’s democracy.

“Tinubu became relevant and noticeable after Abacha took over the government; before then, he was in the senate while he was the secretary of the party.

“He was part of those who supported IBB’s annulment of the June 12 election.

“His own mother Hajia Mogaji was organising Lagos market women to come to Abuja to pledge support for Babangida.”

Reacting, Bayo Onanuga described Lamido’s claim as “a distortion of history and a regrettable attempt at revisionism.”

He accused Lamido and Tony Anenih of teaming up with the defeated National Republican Convention to deny Abiola his mandate.

He said, “It is important to remind Nigerians that Alhaji Lamido, as secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)—the party whose candidate, MKO Abiola, won the June 12 election—was among those who failed to oppose the military’s injustice. The SDP leadership, including Lamido and chairman Tony Anenih, wrote their names in the book of infamy by surrendering the people’s mandate without resistance.

“To their eternal shame, Lamido and Anenih teamed up with the defeated National Republican Convention to deny Abiola his mandate.”

However, Ose described Onanuga’s account of his father’s role in June 12 as untrue.

He said he was disappointed that’ll so much energy was being expended in retelling a tale of more than 30 years old, wondering the relevance such would have to average Nigerian.”

In the rebuttal which he shared on his office X handle, Ose Anenih said, “Your account of my father’s involvement in June 12 is, to put it politely, untrue. It is disappointing that you chose to use uncouth language to describe Chief Tony Anenih, and in an official communication from ‘the Presidency,’ no less.

“I will rise above the emotional baiting that this conversation has clearly sparked and will speak only to the truth. I will also assume that your mischaracterisation of historical events stems from ignorance, not malice.”

He recounted how his father, Tony Anenih, warned Abiola that his close dealings with Abacha would destroy his chances of reclaiming his mandate.

“Chief Abiola initially fled the country after the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections by Gen. Babangida. You mentioned that MKO eventually returned. When he did, one of his first visits was to my father, then National Chairman of the SDP, in Benin City.

“True to form, my father confronted Abiola. He accused him, to his face, of abandoning the party and its supporters in the immediate aftermath of the annulment while they risked life and limb defending his mandate.

Ose further noted that his late father acknowledged how Tinubu spoke out against the delay in the delay in the announcement of the June 12 election.

“Now, I am not aware of any animosity that ever existed between my father and President Tinubu. In fact, my father acknowledged that Tinubu had initially spoken out against the delay in announcing the results of the June 12 election.

“It was the only time he mentioned Tinubu in his 260 page book.

“I have no personal knowledge of what role your principal played after that, though I find it curious that you consider his early visit to Abacha, immediately after a coup to remove the ING he (MKO) helped birth, a mark of honour.

“Like Lamido said, many of the key players in that chapter of our history like IBB, Abdulsalami, Oyegun, Ikimi, Mark, Ayu, Dele Momodu, and others – including Kola, MKO’s son – are still alive. We are also fortunate that my father wrote his own version of events before he passed.”

He added that it was unfortunate he had to defend his father’s name against what he described as “a lie issued in the name of the President.”

“It is however unfortunate that I have had to defend my father’s name against a lie, and doubly unfortunate that that lie was issued in the name of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“I had hoped that this level of toxicity left with the former occupant of your office.

“I am happy to send you a copy of my father’s memoir, My Life and Nigerian Politics, to help you avoid this sort of ahistorical misadventure in future.”