By On Sunday, Nigeria marked the 29th anniversary of the annulled June 12, 1993 elections presumed to have been won by Chief M.K.O Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In his nationwide address, President Muhammadu Buhari had described the annulment of the election as “the worst of our leadership”.
But for Nigerian singer, Seun Kuti, Abiola is a coup sponsor that is undeserving of being hailed as an icon of democracy.
Seun, who is the son of late Afrobeat icon, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, took to his Instagram page on Monday to attack the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 election.
The 39-year-old shared an excerpt from an old newspaper report where his father, the most widely known critic of Abiola, alleged that the late Aare Ona Kakanfo was an agent of America’s Central Intelligence Agency.
The musician also made reference to the International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) scandal which Fela sang about in his 25-minute track “International Thief Thief” where he claimed the late business mogul defrauded Nigeria of millions of naira over a telephony deal for all homes across Nigeria, which he allegedly refused to install but later pocketed the money.
According to Seun, Abiola sponsored Buhari’s 1983 coup against the Shehu Shagari-led civilian government which explains why the latter decided to name June 12 as new Democracy Day in 2018.
He wrote, “Facts on Facts on Facts. One simple research into IT.T (International telecommunications) and how they have been exposed globally exposes the farce that is ‘democracy day.
“Abiola paid for Buharis coup against Shagari and that’s they only reason Buhari is supporting’ democracy day. The madness that is Nigeria is so unique that two ‘coup plotters who toppled a democratic government can award them selves ‘democracy day’ heroism’.”
