Ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation and 1999 presidential candidate, Olu Falae, has said that he won the election that ushered Nigeria back to civilian rule, not Olusegun Obasanjo. He recently alleged that the results of the 1999 presidential election were manipulated to snatch his victory.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV, Olu revealed that a legal analysis of the vote tallies conducted by his late legal counsel, J.O.K. Ajayi, proved that he defeated Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party by more than one million votes.
According to him, despite the result of the analysis, he decided not to challenge the outcome in court because Nigeria was only just returning to civilian governance after years of military rule.
“I was told by my lawyer, the late Chief JOK Ajayi, that I won the election by over a million votes after a meticulous assessment of the figures declared.
But we decided not to go to court. We were more concerned about the country returning to democracy peacefully after years of military rule,” he said.
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Olu’s candidacy, supported by a coalition of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the All Peoples Party (APP), was seen as an olive branch to the Yoruba, while at the same time, Obasanjo, also a Yoruba and former military Head of State, ran under the PDP with major backing from the military and political elite.
Falae disclosed that despite the temptation to challenge the injustice that prevailed, he had to make the personal sacrifice for democracy to return.
He concluded by saying that despite accepting it in good faith back then, the truth must be told now.
“There was so much pressure not to rock the boat. We made sacrifices for democracy to return. I accepted it in good faith then, but the truth must be told: I won that election.
It’s not about me. It’s about the truth. Nigeria deserves to know the real story behind its so-called democratic rebirth,” he added.
