Sani Abacha Wouldn’t Have Rule If I Was Sonekan’s ADC – Bello Fadile

Babatunde Bello-Fadile, a retired Colonel of the Nigerian Army, believes that if he had been allowed to return as the Aide-De-Camp (ADC) to the late interim president Ernest Sonekan, General Sani Abacha would not have seized power from the interim government

Bello-Fadile made this statement during an appearance on the Friday episode of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political program on Channels Television.

He explained, “I was assigned to Sonekan, but I don’t know why I wasn’t permitted to start my duties. If I had been the ADC, the takeover might not have occurred. I was told by the Chief of Army Staff to wait until Sonekan returned from Malta, where he attended a Commonwealth Heads of State meeting that year. I was left in limbo, and the coup happened by the time he got back.”

It would be recalled that in 1993, following the controversial annulment of an election won by the late MKO Abiola, General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), who had taken power in a coup against General Muhammadu Buhari in 1985, established an interim government with Sonekan as president and Abacha as Chief of Defence Staff and Minister of Defence.

On November 18, 1993, just three months into Sonekan’s administration, Abacha executed a palace coup to overthrow him. Over 30 years later, Bello-Fadile remarked that the events surrounding Sonekan’s resignation were unusual.