The late Chief Moshood (MKO) Abiola’s family has requested information about the N45 billion that the Federal Government is allegedly owed.
The call came after former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido made a recent remark in which he urged President Bola Tinubu to provide the Abiola family with compensation as a sign of justice and national reconciliation.
Lamido demanded that the Federal Government provide the business tycoon’s heirs almost N45 billion, reviving a dispute over money purportedly owing to the late MKO Abiola.
During the May 2025 premiere of his biography, “Being True to Myself,” in Abuja, Lamido informed guests that MKO Abiola’s business, International Telephone & Telegraph, had fulfilled significant communications contracts for the military government in the 1970s but had never received full payment.
According to him, MKO Abiola privately verified the amount when Lamido paid him a visit just before his incarceration in 1994, and a former president of state, Murtala Muhammad, recognised the debt prior to his 1976 assassination.
The unpaid payment was presented by Lamido as “double punishment,” claiming that Abiola was first denied the president following the annulment of his June 12, 1993, election victory and then denied the contract money he was entitled to.
He contended that resolving the issue will show President Bola Tinubu’s dedication to justice for pro-democracy leaders and provide moral and symbolic closure to Nigeria’s protracted June 12 saga.
“Abiola kept faith with this country; paying what is owed will close the chapter decently,” Lamido told the audience, which included Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, whom he asked to relay the appeal to the President.
According to a senior Presidency official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the family may make claims provided it had sufficient proof.
But according to him, Lamido had “no business” speaking on behalf the family since MKO Abiola’s children were still alive.
Hafsat Abiola, a family member, on Friday praised the Federal Government for awarding her mother, the late Kudirat Abiola, the CFR.
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