Tinubu to host June 12 documentary premiere

President Bola Tinubu will host the Nigerian premiere of a new documentary on the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the political crisis triggered by its annulment, with former heads of state, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and other key figures from the period featured in the film.

Titled MKO, the documentary chronicles the political journey of the late MKO Abiola, the 1993 presidential candidate whose widely acknowledged victory was annulled by Babangida’s military government, as well as the prolonged pro-democracy struggle that followed.

The Nigerian premiere is scheduled for October 1 at the National Theatre, Lagos, coinciding with Nigeria’s Independence Day, before the film opens in cinemas across the country the following day.

The premiere will come eight days after an international screening of the documentary at the American University in Washington, D.C., where the film will be used as the basis for a discussion on Nigeria’s annulled 1993 election, its democratic consequences and lessons for contemporary electoral institutions.

The Washington event, scheduled for September 23, is titled “Democracy Denied: Nigeria’s Annulled 1993 Election and Its Lasting Legacies.”

The documentary, produced by former Nigerian journalist and international filmmaker Ose Oyamendan, draws on archival material and first-hand accounts to revisit the events surrounding the election, its annulment and the political struggle that continued until Abiola died in detention in 1998.

Its cast of interviewees brings together figures who occupied sharply different positions during the period.

Babangida, whose regime annulled the June 12 election, features alongside Abubakar, who subsequently presided over the transition that returned Nigeria to civilian rule in 1999.

Obasanjo, Soyinka and Abiola’s running mate in the election, Babagana Kingibe, are also featured.

The film also includes accounts from former United States Ambassador to Nigeria Walter Carrington, former US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, former Canadian High Commissioner Gerald Ohlsen, members of Abiola’s family and foreign journalists who witnessed the political crisis.

One of the more personal accounts comes from Theodore Zadok, who served as Abiola’s security guard during his detention and recounts the final period of the politician’s life.

For Oyamendan, the decision by Tinubu to serve as chief host adds another layer to a documentary about a struggle in which the President himself was involved as an opposition politician during the military era.

“For us, as a film team, it is an enormous honour that President Tinubu is recognising this important film as chief host,” Oyamendan said.

He recalled Tinubu’s involvement in the pro-democracy struggle after the annulment, arguing that the film was not merely a biography of Abiola but an examination of the choices made by Nigeria’s political actors during the crisis.

“This was a crucial point in Nigeria’s history where many of our leaders back then chose to side with the dictators. Tinubu risked his life, livelihood and his family’s safety by standing with the people’s mandate.

“This is a story of that struggle that has brought us to where we are today,” Oyamendan said.

The filmmaker said the documentary was intended to revisit the June 12 crisis not simply as an episode involving one politician, but as a study of power, political choices and the consequences of the decisions taken during the military era.

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That focus is also reflected in the Washington screening, where the film will be followed by a conversation involving Oyamendan; Carl LeVan of American University; Adotei Akwei of Advocacy Network for Africa; and Folabi Olagbaju of Democracy Campaign/Greenpeace USA, with Nneka Achapu of the African Public Affairs Committee as moderator.

The organisers said the discussion would examine the legacy of the annulment and what the episode could teach contemporary electoral institutions.

The international engagement comes ahead of the film’s Nigerian theatrical release, with Nile Entertainment handling distribution from October 2.

The Managing Director of Nile Entertainment, Moses Babatope, said the project had a personal significance for him because his father worked at Concord Newspapers, one of the media organisations founded by Abiola.

“The story of MKO Abiola is particularly personal to me. My father worked at Concord Newspaper, one of the institutions founded by Chief MKO Abiola, so his legacy has always had a personal connection to my family,” Babatope said.

He said the film could also serve a broader historical purpose by making the events of the June 12 period accessible to Nigerians who were too young to have experienced them.

“Beyond that personal connection, I believe this documentary is an important contribution to the preservation of Nigeria’s political history.

“MKO Abiola’s story is one of the most defining periods in our nation’s democratic journey, and it is important that this history is documented and made accessible, particularly to a younger generation,” he said.

Babatope described the film as a record of a pivotal period in Nigeria’s history and said Nile Entertainment was proud to support its nationwide cinema release.

The documentary had its world premiere on June 12 at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival and is scheduled for additional screenings and theatrical releases in Europe and North America.

Oyamendan said bringing the documentary home for its Nigerian premiere was particularly important because the events it chronicles remain part of the country’s collective political memory.

“This is a story that belongs to Nigerians. It is about memory, power, courage, sacrifice and the consequences of political choices,” he said.

He said the passage of more than three decades since the annulment offered Nigerians an opportunity to revisit the episode beyond commemorative narratives and examine its continuing significance.

“Most importantly, it is about people who believed that their voices mattered. Thirty-three years after June 12, we have the opportunity to look back at what happened, not simply to remember it, but to understand it and ensure it never happens again,” Oyamendan said.

The film’s October 1 premiere will therefore bring the June 12 story into a contemporary political setting, with the President serving as host while several figures directly connected to Nigeria’s military and pro-democracy history feature in the documentary.