The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has strongly criticized former military leader Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) for blaming the late General Sani Abacha for the cancellation of the June 12, 1993, election. In a press release issued on Sunday, February 23, 2025, MURIC’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, stated that IBB is the real reason Nigeria’s democracy is not working and accused him of causing the country’s political problems.

This comes after Babangida launched his memoir, A Journey In Service, at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja on Thursday, February 20, 2025, where he blamed Abacha for the annulment of the 1993 presidential election and accused him of plotting to overthrow his government violently. Babangida described the annulment as an “accident of history” and expressed deep regret over the incident.

However, MURIC rejected Babangida’s claims, stating that “the buck stops at IBB’s table” and that he should stop blaming others for the annulment. The group held IBB responsible for the failure of Nigeria to cultivate a sustainable, visionary, and dignifying political culture, having annulled the fairest, freest, and most peaceful election in the history of Nigeria.

MURIC also criticized Babangida for his role in toppling the corrective administration of Buhari and Idiagbon, which led to the country’s descent into darkness. The group noted that IBB incarcerated Buhari and refused to allow him to attend his mother’s funeral, and that many innocent Nigerians were killed during the IBB-Abacha totalitarian military misadventure.

“We assert emphatically, unequivocally, and categorically that the buck stops at IBB’s table. We reject his alibi,” MURIC stated. “Thursday, 20th February, 2025, the day IBB presented his memoir, was a sad day for genuinely patriotic Nigerians. It was the day leaders decided to disappoint the masses by hero-worshipping a former dictator, a tyrant, and a numero uno enemy of democracy”.