By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Hafsat Abiola-Costello, daughter of late political icon, MKO Abiola and Kudirat Abiola, has reacted to the confession, yesterday, Thursday 20, 2025, by former military ruler, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (Rtd.) that Abiola won the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Welcoming the confession made at the launch of Babagida’s memoir in Abuja, Hafsat said: “For those that kept expressing doubt that Nigerians had spoken so decisively on that day, I’m glad that General IBB’s admission that MKO won the election can now lay the matter to rest.”
According to the activist in a statement issued on Friday morning, “When anyone mentions June 12, my mind always goes to MKO and Kudi. But June 12’s staying power was because the vote that Nigerians expressed that day was a vote for a better future and for unity. MKO may have been the symbol of the Hope ’93 campaign, but June 12 was about more than one man, it was about the promise of Nigeria that would deliver for Nigerians.
“For those that kept expressing doubt that Nigerians had spoken so decisively on that day, I’m glad that General IBB’s admission that MKO won the election can now lay the matter to rest.
“It’s sad that such a galvanising statement as the breakthrough vote for MKO should have been truncated by an unjust annulment. But I will be forever grateful to both MKO and Kudi for not allowing their fears for their personal safety stand in the way of the people’s desire for a better Nigeria. May such commitment endure.”