Why Ibrahim Babangida annulled the June 12, 1993, Presidential Election

The June 12, 1993, presidential election should have ended with Nigerians celebrating the end of another military dictatorship.

Instead, the citizens were faced with a new and more dangerous phase of military rule as Nigerian Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida and his cronies, in a flimsy attempt to disguise the continuation of their regime, annulled the elections, implemented a so-called interim national government, and postponed the military's exit from politics.

Babangida’s manoeuvrings did not only betray the Nigerian voters, who in the June 12 elections had overcome ethnic, religious, and regional rivalries in an effort to rid themselves of military rule but, tragically, brought such rivalries back to the political foreground.

The intention of General Babangida and his allies to disallow civilians a significant voice in government was proven by the brutal reaction of his military and security forces to the outcry which followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

One month after the annulment in July 1993, over a hundred demonstrators were believed to have died in pro-democracy demonstrations.

Hundreds of human rights and pro-democracy activists, labour leaders, journalists, students, and workers were arrested in months to follow, without access to their families, defence counsel, or doctors, despite court orders granting their release on bail.

Media houses were proscribed, a number of journalists were detained while some were declared wanted by security agents.

New restrictive press regulations were decreed, thereby reneging on the promise Babangida had made in August 1985 after sacking the Muhammadu Buhari regime.

In this video, we shall take a look at...why General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the June 12, 1993, presidential election. The aftermath of the annulment, and the intrigues, causes and effects of the June 12 crisis. #HistoryVille #June12 #IbrahimBabangida

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Video Credits: Nigerian History Channel, Adeyinka Makinde

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro

02:34 What led to the June 12, 1993, Presidential Election?

07:39 The Pre-Transition Coup

11:07 Effects of the annulment of the June 12, 1993, Presidential Election

18:18 Opposition to the Interim National Government

22:34 Attacks on Nigerian Pro-Democracy Activists

24:02 Attacks on the Nigerian Press

27:30 Lessons of the annulled June 12, 1993, Presidential Election

29:47 Next Video