Thirty two (32) years after his demise, it has been revealed that MKO Abiola and Basir Tofa were not the first choice of Nigerians in the 1993 presidential election, annulled by Ibrahim Babangida, who was the then military President.
The former Minister of Police Affairs, Adams Maina Waziri disclosed this on Thursday during the Second Posthumous Legacy Colloquium in honour of late High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, organized by D-37, his political family and associate in Abuja.
Reflecting on his friendship with Dokpesi, Waziri, who was emotional as he recounted events of the past, especially the 1993 election, which culminated into what is described today as June 12, noted that the aim of Nigerians in that election was to push the military out of power.
“Nigerians, out of disappointment, were forced to vote in 1993 for candidates not of their choice. With due respects, Abiola was not the choice of Nigerians, neither was Bashir Tofa.
“The choice of Nigerians or choices of Nigerians were Shehu Musa Yar’adua, Bamanga Tukur and the rest of them. So while we are celebrating June 12, Nigerians were tired of military rule, so they were forced to vote to see if they could just push the military out.”
Lamenting the situation in the country, Waziri narrated the role played by Dokpesi to ensure that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stands firm, adding that he never expected somebody like Bola Ahmed Tinubu to become the President of Nigeria.
“Somebody who I never expected would sit in the exalted position of the President of Nigeria, like President Bola, Ahmed Tinubu, to be sworn in on the 29th of May 2023.”
On the death of Dokpesi, the former Minister said, “at least we exchanged chat messages. I was asleep at about 11 when I was woken up with the sad news. It was good he died at home. Otherwise, the controversy of his death on that day would have had dire consequences on this country.”
He, however, urged the organizers to document the role Dokpesi played in the nation’s politics especially from 1999 to 29 May 2023, so that the history will not be lost.
The General Secretary of D-37, Dr Alex Ter Adum, described Dokpesi as a man who it’s very difficult to subject his memory to because he is a man who impacted lives and this country as a nation in several ways.
Adum, who was the former Attorney General of Benue State, said Dokpesi was a trailblazer in the media industry, a political strategist, who practically worked through all second, third and the fourth Republic trying to shape the political narrative, “unfortunately he died on this very important day which is May 29.
“For we D37, we decided this day to be called transition day. This event is small but very important to us and important to all of you who have left whatever you are doing to be here.”
The guest lecturer at the colloquium, Prof. Yusuf Usman, decried the state of the nation, even as he frowned at the corruption in Tinubu’s government.
He said: “We have leadership that is focused on itself and distance from the people. There’s no country that can be safe with injustice. With hunger in the land, we are not safe in this country.
“Life has become nothing in this country, insecurity everywhere and our military have been deployed to all the states, including the FCT. Our military is overstretched.
The mess you see today is created by the politicians and they left it for the military to clean up. The people are suffering and the government is not listening.”
