Lamido Drops Bombshell| ‘I Told IBB to His Face—Resign Now

Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has opened up about a dramatic encounter with then-military ruler Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) during Nigeria’s political crisis following the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.

In his newly released autobiography titled Being True to Myself, Lamido recalls the moment he directly told Babangida to step down from power.

At the time, Lamido was serving as the National Secretary of the now-defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP)—the platform under which Moshood Abiola had won the annulled election. He recounted meeting Babangida at the Presidential Villa amid national tension. When Babangida asked, “Sule, what do I do?”, Lamido replied bluntly: “Sir, you must resign and leave office.”

According to Lamido, the suggestion stunned Babangida into silence. “He just looked at me, speechless,” Lamido wrote.

He went on to criticize the military government’s reasoning behind the annulment, particularly the claim that Abiola could not be allowed to assume office because the government owed him money. Lamido dismissed it as a “moral excuse” with no real justification.

The former governor also shed light on the 1999 selection of Olusegun Obasanjo as the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), noting that it was a calculated move to calm the deep political wounds caused by the June 12 crisis.

“The choice of Obasanjo as PDP candidate was meant to heal the June 12 wound,” Lamido wrote, suggesting that giving power back to the South-West—Abiola’s region—was seen as a path toward national reconciliation.

Lamido’s memoir offers rare insight into the inner workings and moral dilemmas of one of Nigeria’s most turbulent political eras, shedding light on key decisions that shaped the nation’s path to democracy.