Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has called on President Bola Tinubu to pay the ₦45 billion reportedly owed to the family of the late MKO Abiola.
He made the appeal on Tuesday in Abuja during the presentation of his autobiography, “Being True to Myself”.
Lamido, who once served as the National Secretary of the Social Democratic Party, explained that the money relates to contracts Abiola’s company carried out for the Ministry of Communications during the military era.
According to him, Abiola had demanded the payment before the June 12, 1993, presidential election, which he was presumed to have won.
He said the military government at the time rejected the demand, fearing that if Abiola became president and received the money, the country’s finances could suffer.
Lamido recalled that Abiola tried to gain support from northern emirs to push the military into approving the payment, but this did not lead to any results.
At the event, Lamido spoke directly to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris Malagi, who represented President Tinubu.
He asked the minister to relay his message to the president, urging him to settle the debt as a way of bringing a final end to the long-standing matter tied to June 12.
He insisted that paying Abiola’s family would serve as a form of justice, especially considering the history surrounding the annulled election and the struggles that followed.
Lamido said settling the issue financially would help put the chapter to rest.
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