Human rights lawyer Femi Falana says Nigerians have already recognised the late MKO Abiola as a former president of the country.
Abiola won the 1993 election which was annulled by former military president Ibrahim Babangida.
Thirty years after the exercise, Babangida during the launch of his memoir admitted that Abiola indeed emerged victorious in the election but he annulled the poll due to “national interest”.
Since Babangida’s admittance, there have been calls for President Bola Tinubu to recognise the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate as a former president of the country. But Falana argued that Abiola has since been accorded that status by Nigerians.
“Since 1993, MKO Abiola has been recognized by the people of Nigeria as an elected president. These guys who try to set the hands of the clock back are just recognizing that now.
“And the last one is about this their they want to set up a library. No former military Head of State has ever set up a library. What do you want to read there? You can only have a library set up by an elected president. So I hope they will title it well, it should be the ‘former military president library.
“It shouldn’t just be a presidential library because you will confuse people. There’s nothing like a military president. You can’t have a military president because a president is elected by the people.
“He said in the book that why he chose the title president is that he did it in line with the suspended provision of the constitution, that suspended provision did not recognize the military dictator. Every officer under that constitution must be elected.”