By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has vowed to take General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) to court over alleged human rights violations linked to the June 12, 1993 election annulment.
Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, was one of those jailed by Babangida’s regime for protesting the election annulment and the extension of his military regime’s transition deadline. Falana was later released on bail.
In a recent interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Falana announced, “I’m going to challenge my malicious prosecution and that of my colleagues.”
He explained that IBB’s recent admission in his book, Journey in Service, that the election was free and fair and that MKO Abiola won, proves that the charges against him were baseless.
“He now says, Abiola won the election, which was the basis for our protest,” Falana added, emphasizing that this statement reveals there was no justification for their prosecution.
Falana also criticized IBB’s regret for failing to hand over power to a civilian government on time, pointing out that this further invalidated the charges against him.
“There was no basis for my prosecution. It was malicious,” Falana said, stressing that the human rights violations he suffered, including being imprisoned in Kuje, deprived him of his freedom and his right to choose the country’s government. “The man who did has just come out to say, ‘I did it wrongly,’” he concluded.
