Babangida: Ghost Of June 12 Still Haunting Some People – Peterside

The founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside has said that the ghost of June 12 is still haunting some people.

Peterside stated this while reacting to a recently released autobiography by Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB)  titled, ‘A Journey In Service.’

In the memoir, Babangida, among several revelations, said he was in Katsina when the annulment of the election, won by MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), was announced by the press secretary of his second-in-command without his knowledge or permission.

Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television, Peterside asserted that the Nigerian elite may “normalise” deceit if they have their way.

He argued that Nigeria needs the emergence of elders who will speak the truth and show the younger generation the right path.

“I’m not here to indict anybody but I think if we are not careful, the Nigerian elite would normalise deceit or fraud and things like that. They would normalise all sorts of things. That is why some people have pointed out that enough is enough. Let’s draw the line somewhere. There are some issues you cannot joke with,” Peterside said.

Speaking further, he said, “When IBB annulled that election on June 12. That was the first time we had mobile phones. I voted on my street in Victoria Island. We saw the results coming from all over the country except Taraba state. I was in my 30s. I knew what happened. I was among the people that came out after the annulment to say we can’t do this.

“Interestingly, one of the articles I wrote then. I have never heard anybody use that expression. I sat in my house and wrote it because there was no internet. I called it the ghost of June 12. What I was writing then was that June 12 would be like a ghost and it would haunt some people forever.”

Peterside added that the book launch “was the ghost of June 12 haunting some people and it is still haunting them, unfortunately”.