"Vindication Of A General" by Ishaya Bamaiyi; "NO COMMENTS" Says Abdulsalami to allegations

The ripples that have been generated by the Book; "Against The Rin of Play" by Olusegun Adeniyi, Chairman of the Editorial Board of ThisDay Newspaper, is daily unearthing new expose, especially as it relates to the prominent actors who participated in the entire episode.

Former Head of State, Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami  (retd.) who midwifed the return of democracy in 1999, as one of the prominent actors in the Nigerian Project, was copiously mentioned in the book.


Abdulsalami on Friday, refused to be drawn into the fray when asked to comment on allegations made by a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi in the book.

In the book, Bamaiyi had allegedthat the former knew about the death of the winner of the 1993 presidential election, Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

General Abubakar, who was present at the book launch of Olusegun Adeniyi’s "Against the Run of Play" in Lagos, however refused to respond to questions from journalists about the allegations made by Bamaiyi in his book, "Vindication of a General".

General Ishaya Bamaiyi, in his book, had said that Abiola could not have died of natural causes on July 7, 1998 because he had been healthy when they met.

It should be recalled that the 1993 Presidential election was annulled by the Ibrahim Babangida-led military junta and Abiola was in 1994 arrested by the late Gen. Sani Abacha-led government after he pronounced himself winner of the election.

Bamaiyi, in the book; Vindication of A General", had among other allegations, said Abubakar knew more about the cause of Abiola’s death, urging him to tell Nigerians the truth.

"I believe only Gen. Abubakar and those he used to handle Abiola’s death can tell Nigerians how Chief M.K.O. Abiola died".

"Abiola could not have died the way he reportedly died", he said.

Abubakar, when asked to defend the allegations, said;

"I have no comments" as he walked out on the journalists.

Earlier, at the launch of the book, Abubakar, who was the Chairman of the occasion, had described Adeniyi’s book as a "good book" that was well-researched.

"The book is coming at the right time to further deepen our understanding of what happened in Nigeria during the March 2015 general elections which many believe, and quite rightly too, as one of the most defining moments of our political history", Abdulsalam Abubakar said.

The former Military Ruler, therefore, urged journalists to do more than traditional reporting by writing books about "some of the momentous events that have helped to shape our country".

Punch