Democracy Day: Seven striking similarities between MKO Abiola and President Tinubu

Today June 12 marks Democracy Day. To celebrate the historic day, President Bola Tinubu in his speech on Monday described Chief MKO Abiola who was touted generally as the winner of the elections in 1993 as the symbol of democracy.

Chief Abiola died under the circumstances of the late Gen Sani Abacha after his election was annulled.

More than 25 years down the line, President Tinubu who was in the same political stock as Abiola shares quite a number of similarities with him.

Many in the political circle say that President Tinubu's victory in the 2023 presidential election evoked the memory of the hope dashed in 1993 when former military President Ibrahim Babangida annulled the mandate of Bashorun MKO Abiola.

Both elections shared many characteristics. Abiola and Tinubu are from Southwest Nigeria and they both belonged to the same political family. MKO was an accomplished accountant. Tinubu also is. The peaceful religion of Islam is also another thing between them. Both picked their Muslim running mates from Borno State, specifically from the Kanuri lineage. To cap it all, MKO had 8.3 million votes while BAT scored 8.7 million to emerge the winner.

HOPE 93 was MKO’s electoral slogan while Tinubu named the 2023 slogan of his campaign RENEWED HOPE. These are not just nomenclatures; rather they are well-thought-out ideologies. Abiola had street credibility and corporate sensitivity. The same can be said about Tinubu.