Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has said Nigerians are being unfair to former military president Ibrahim Babangida following the release of his autobiography.
Babangida’s memoir, A Journey in Service: An Autobiography of Ibrahim Babangida, a 420-page book, includes a significant revelation where he admitted that MKO Abiola won the 1993 presidential election, which his government annulled. This admission, coming 32 years later, has sparked widespread reactions, with many critics arguing that it is long overdue.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television on Monday, Kalu, who represents Abia North in the Senate, defended the former military president, stating that Nigerians are not being fair to him.
“On the Babangida’s book, I think Nigerians are very unfair to Babangida because he came out on his own,” the former Abia State governor said.
He further argued that the former military leader story is not complete and called on him to reveal more details about the circumstances surrounding the 1993 election annulment.
“When I say the story is not complete, I wanted President Babangida to write more of the stories because the stories have not finished. There is more to the story, there are officers who told Babangida you cannot hand over to this man,” Kalu added.
The senator also highlighted another significant aspect of the book, where the former leader stated that the 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup—an assertion Kalu described as a bold revelation.
Kalu further urged IBB (as the former military leader is fondly called) to write a second book, arguing that the full story of the June 12 election and the role of other military officers involved has yet to be told.
“More military people that were there should talk about this. There should be a second part of the book because if you mention only one name or two, it is not complete,” he said.
He further suggested that IBB himself was in danger during that period, emphasizing that the way he left power indicates deeper political undercurrents at play.
“They should go all hog and tell Nigerians the truth. Babangida should write a second book, I know that Babangida was in danger throughout those periods. If you remember the way he left power, you will know something was wrong,” Kalu stated.
The annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election between MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC) remains a controversial and unresolved issue in Nigeria’s political history.
