On recognizing Abiola as former president, Orji Uzor Kalu and Afenifere should go read the constitution

If Ibrahim Babangida’s goal in writing a “messy memoir”, as my dear friend Professor Chris Nwaokobia called it, was to further sow chaos and confusion in an already crazy nation, as I suspect it is, he has succeeded in doing that. Chief Chekwas Okorie came out of that book launch calling for the renaming of INEC headquarters in Abuja after late Professor Humphrey Nwosu, the man who conducted the ill-fated June 12, 1993 election that late Chief MKO Abiola ostensibly won. A very misconceived idea, given that late Humphrey Nwosu was a man of integrity and honor, but INEC is the dirtiest and most corrupt public institution ever invented by man.

I instantly penned a piece where I called on Chekwas to drop that wild idea and perish the crazy thought that birthed it. But even before the ink on that piece had a chance to dry, Sen. Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu, also coming from the book launch cocktail, was already urging Bola Tinubu to recognize late MKO Abiola as a former president of Nigeria, and have his portrait on the wall of ex-leaders in the government house in Asokoro, Abuja. I had casually dismissed such foolishness, blaming it on a possible lingering hangover from all the expensive beverages from that Babangida book launch cocktail.

However, something major has happened since Sen. Kalu made that call. Afenifere, the apex socio-cultural organization for the Yoruba, has come out to back Sen. Kalu’s call for Bola Tinubu to recognize late MKO Abiola, a Yoruba son, as a former president of Nigeria. Now you see why I am back to this. It is no longer just Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu, it is now an entire Yoruba nation. Like Sen. Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu, Afenifere, with the greatest sense of respect for that great organization, is wrong – irredeemably wrong!

Look, I will line up my records and credentials for standing up for MKO Abiola, for June 12, and for democracy against anybody else’s record in Nigeria, or anywhere for that matter. As a then college student, I marched for June 12. I was teargassed by the zombies who call themselves Babangida’s and Abacha’s soldiers. I have written, spoken, and argued extensively on June 12. Late Chief MKO Abiola was my hero, and even in death, still so. But there is this thing called law and constitution, and I am a lawyer. The law and the Constitution allow me to be emotional and sentimental, and God knows I have expended a load of those on matters of MKO and June 12. But my emotions and sentiments must end where the law and the Constitution begin.

When it comes to whether late Chief MKO Abiola should be recognized as a former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, my emotions and sentiments say hell yeah, but the law and the Constitution say hell no! If all that it takes to be President of Nigeria is to be duly elected, then Chief MKO should be so recognized, even posthumously, because he was duly elected. Section 134 (2) of the Nigerian Constitution says: “A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election- (a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and (b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”

Clearly, and evidently, MKO Abiola was duly elected president in the June 12, 1993 election. If there were any lingering doubts, Ibrahim Babangida’s confessionals should clear those up. But, you see, you are not the president of Nigeria just because you have been duly elected. There is the additional requirement imposed by section 136(1) of the same Constitution. It says: “If a person duly elected as President dies before taking and subscribing the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office, or is for any reason whatsoever unable to be sworn in, the person elected with him as Vice-President shall be sworn in as President and he shall nominate a new Vice-President who shall be appointed by the President with the approval by a simple majority of the National Assembly at a joint sitting.” Sadly, a duly elected MKO Abiola never subscribed the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office. He was never sworn in as president.

And to underscore the criticality of subscriptions to the oaths of office and allegiance to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, section 135(1) of the Constitution reads: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of President until – (a) when his successor in office takes the oath of that office.” That provision allows a current president to stay beyond his tenure if his successor has not taken the oath of office, even if that successor has been duly elected according to section 134. In other words, just being duly elected does not make one president. There are two processes in the journey to becoming president, one is political, the other is constitutional. Being duly elected is the political part; subscribing to the oaths of office and allegiance is the constitutional part. Sadly, MKO met the political, but not the constitutional.

So, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland) is not a former president of Nigeria, and should not be so recognized. Doing so will be cladding him in an unconstitutional garb, and there can be no worse dishonor to his memory. What will be the moral inequivalence between an Abiola who is recognized as president, in clear violation of the unambiguous provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, and the twin scoundrels of Ibrahim Babangida and late Sani Abacha? Look, Nigeria will eternally atone for the sins of June 12, just as it will continue to bear the bloody stain of millions of Igbo lives butchered on the gory alter of a concocted lie. But we cannot cure those injustices by a flagrant violation of the Constitution. Rather than recognize MKO Abiola as a former president, which he is not, redesignate June 12 national holiday from Democracy Day to Abiola Day. To have a national holiday endowed in Abiola’s name is a bigger honor than any president can ever receive.

Now, back to Sen. Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu. I was amused, offended, and disappointed, reading Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu’s call for Abiola to be recognized as a former president of Nigeria. I was amused because, like I said, I thought it was the hangover effect of Babangida’s book launch cocktail. It must have been one hell of a beer party, I thought to myself. But I was offended and disappointed because Ọrji is supposed to be a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who should know the Constitution of that Republic like the back of his own hands. I was offended and disappointed because I couldn’t recall Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu being in the forefront (or even back) of June 12 actualization struggles while Abiola lived. Ọrji was not part of NADECO or any Democratic movement and struggle for the realization of June 12 and Abiola’s mandate.

On the contrary, Ọrji has been Babangida’s friend ever since. I was offended and disappointed because Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu called for Abiola to be recognized as a former president but was cricket on the bigger bombshell from Babangida’s messy memoir – the 1966 coup not being an Igbo coup, a lie that has festered for 60 years, and for which ndị Igbo have been killed in millions and suffered losses in trillions. But Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu is an Igbo man representing the Igbo state of Abia. Who did this to us? Ọrji urged Babangida to write a second book to answer emergent questions from the first book. Funny! Has Ọrji even read the first book? Again, who did this to us?

Whom have ndị Igbo offended to deserve this embarrassment? If one forgives Ọrji Ụzọr Kalu for being mum on Babangida’s confession regarding the truth of the 1966 coup lies, does one also forgive Ọhaneze ndị Igbo for also being silent on that issue? If Yoruba Afenifere could push for the recognition of MKO Abiola as a former president, as unconstitutional as it is, why hasn’t Ọhaneze ndị Igbo called a world press conference to demand a public apology from General Jack Yakubu Gowon and reparations from Nigeria for the genocidal slaughter of the Igbo in the late sixties, during other intermittent episodes since then, and continuing till date? Why the loud cricket in Ọhaneze land?

Let me conclude. Do not dishonor MKO Abiola’s memory by dressing him in borrowed garments. Do not recognize him as a former president of Nigeria. Do not put his portrait on the wall of former Nigerian presidents in Aso Rock. That will be unconstitutional. MKO Abiola, though duly elected, was never inaugurated president. As sad as that fact is, it is still the fact. If they are up there, take down portraits of any and all British colonial governors. Take down portraits of Generals Muhammad Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, and Sani Abacha from that wall. They are all coupists who committed treasonable felonies against the country. Leave the portraits of Generals Thomas Ụmụnnakwe Agụiyi-Ironsi, Olusegun Obasanjo, and Abdusalami Abubakar.

Though military heads of state, they did not engage in coups. Leave the portraits of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Tafawa Balewa. Leave the portraits of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. And change June 12 Democracy Day national holiday to MKO Abiola national holiday.
Rest on, MKO!

Dr. Vitus Ozoke is a lawyer, human rights activist, and public commentator based in the United States.

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