General Ishola Williams, rtd, has revealed that it was Gen Ibrahim Babangida that prepared the late General Sani Abacha to take over before his controversial annulment of June 12, 1993 election.

The revelation from Williams, who was a high-ranking member of the Nigerian Army during the military years, contradicts the disclosure the former military head of state, Babangida made in his book, ‘Journey in Service’.

Gen Williams, a former Chief of Defence Training and Planning, said this when he appeared as a guest on the Friday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a Channels Television’s programme.

Gen Williams was one of those mentioned in Babangida’s 420-page autobiography.

One of the key points of the memoir was IBB’s admission for the first time that Moshood Kashimawo Olawale, MKO, Abiola won the June 12, 1993 election.

He took responsibility for the annulment, but went further to blame Abacha for canceling the poll without his authority.

On page 296 of the book, whilst he described the ripple of reactions that trailed the annulment of the election adjudged the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history, IBB said, “Within the military leadership, there was palpable outrage. The best of us, like Lt-General Salihu Ibrahim and Major-General Ishola Williams, were alarmed, and Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar threatened to resign.”

However, according to Gen Williams, IBB had prepared Abacha to succeed him before he annulled the election.

Gen Williams said, “Gen Babangida forgot to mention that he used to call Gen Abacha the Khalipha which meant that one way or the other, he was encouraging Gen Abacha to succeed him.

“And to a certain extent, in my conversation with Gen Babangida, just before he stepped aside, one midnight in Minna, he could not answer a question that I asked him: ‘Did you have a blood oath with Abacha that he would succeed you?’

“I asked him that question but he refused to answer. In Minna, one-on-one, at the Presidential Guest House in Minna.

“Before that, there was a group of civilian governors in his regime that came to visit him and encouraged him not to hand over. It was when they left that I asked him the question and told him not to mind the governors, that the best thing is for him to leave.

“I told him that we were preparing to receive him in Minna with full military honours after he stepped aside. And I did that. I was a Commander in Minna at that time. He came to Minna with his wife.

“Many officers came with him. These officers knew that he had stepped aside but put pressure on him to appoint a new CDS (chief of defense staff) and service chiefs.

“He (IBB) appointed new service chiefs and when those ones came to tell me, I said you are not going to last very long… Shortly after that, Gen Abacha flew in, met with Gen Babangida in his house and when he came out he changed all of them (service chiefs).

“There was a meeting before the interim government where officers from Brigadier General and above of the Armed Forces met in the Villa. The late Attorney General (Clement) Akpamgbo was the only civilian at the meeting.

“When the discussion started about June 12, I was alarmed and I said: ‘What are we discussing? I thought we came here to discuss the handover process?’ Gen Abacha was sitting to my right and in between us was Gen Diya. Gen Abacha said Ishola don’t talk like that but I said we should be discussing handing over, not annulment. On what basis will the election be annulled? But nobody answered me.

“It was only Gen Ikonne who supported me. By that time, the election had not been annulled yet but the election had taken place.

“I said we don’t need a transitional government but it was ruled out. The whole decree was planned in such a way so that Abacha could take over,” he said.

Babangida prepared Abacha to take over from him – Gen Williams gives details