Ose Anenih, the son of the late politician Tony Anenih, has taken exception to what he calls the mischaracterisation of his father by President Bola Tinubu’s government per the June 12 annulment.

“Your account of my father’s involvement in June 12 is, to put it politely, untrue,” the younger Anenih wrote in a rebuttal on Sunday. “It is disappointing that you chose to use uncouth language to describe Chief Tony Anenih, and in an official communication from ‘the Presidency’, no less.”

He added, “Now, I am not aware of any animosity that ever existed between my father and President Tinubu. In fact, my father acknowledged that Tinubu had initially spoken out against the delay in announcing the results of the June 12 election.

Presidency spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, while reacting to former Governor Sule Lamido’s allegation that Mr Tinubu supported Ibrahim Babangida’s decision to annul the June 12 presidential election, had accused Messrs Anenih and Lamido of thwarting the will of Nigerians by failing to resist the annulment by the then-military regime.

“It is important to remind Nigerians that Alhaji Lamido, as secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)—the party whose candidate, MKO Abiola, won the June 12 election—was among those who failed to oppose the military’s injustice. 

“The SDP leadership, including Lamido and chairman Tony Anenih, wrote their names in the book of infamy by surrendering the people’s mandate without resistance. To their eternal shame, Lamido and Anenih teamed up with the defeated National Republican Convention to deny Abiola his mandate,” Mr Onanuga stated.

In his rebuttal, the former minister’s son said Mr Onanuga’s mischaracterisation of the historical events stemmed from ignorance, noting his father did resist the controversial annulment.

”Chief Abiola initially fled the country after the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections by Gen. Babangida. You mentioned that MKO eventually returned. When he did, one of his first visits was to my father, then national chairman of the SDP, in Benin City. True to form, my father confronted Abiola.

“He accused him, to his face, of abandoning the party and its supporters in the immediate aftermath of the annulment while they risked life and limb defending his mandate,” the younger Anenih said.

Accusing Mr Onanuga of toxicity, he added, “It is, however, unfortunate that I have had to defend my father’s name against a lie, and doubly unfortunate that that lie was issued in the name of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I had hoped that this level of toxicity left with the former occupant of your office.”

Mr Anenih expressed disappointment over Mr Tinubu’s preoccupation with issues of no benefit to Nigerians, accusing it of smearing the dead.

“I’m just surprised, and slightly disappointed, that so much energy is going into the re-telling of a tale that is more than 30 years old. Of what relevance to the average Nigerian is any of this today? I truly wish you had used your pen today to issue condolences to the victims of the suicide bombings in Kano and Borno rather than rewriting history and smearing the dead,” he said.