Pan-Yoruba association, Afenifere
Renewal Group, on Thursday, praised the late MKO Abiola for the role he
played in the struggle for democracy.
The group also slammed Abiola’s running
mate in the annulled June 12, 1993 election, Babagana Kingibe, for his
recent comment over the election.
Kingibe had said recently that the victory of the All Progressives Congress had put to rest the ghost of June 12.
However, the ARG described the June 12 struggle as an albatross for those who betrayed its cause, particularly Kingibe.
The group, in a statement by its
publicity secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, said Kingibe, who, some days ago,
reportedly wants the “ghost of June 12 laid to rest” on account of APC’s
victory in the last presidential election, has an antecedent that
disqualifies him “from commenting on or identifying with the success of a
democratic campaign.”
The
statement read, “As the vice-president elect, Kingibe ought to have
been the captain of the ship for the June 12 struggle when Chief M.K.O
Abiola was arrested but he was the first to jump ship.
“The ARG understands that Kingibe may
have missed being in the corridors of power and may be itching to have a
voice that could be reckoned with as credible – therefore, his wish to
have June 12 ‘laid to rest’.
“Kingibe’s undemocratic and treacherous
antecedents disqualify him from commenting on or identifying with the
success of a democratic campaign. Instead of wishing that June 12 be
forgotten, it is better for him to retrace his steps and purge himself
of ethnocentric perspectives.”
The group described June 12 as a watershed in Nigeria’s annals which should foreve be remebered
