The family of late Chief Moshood Abiola has requested more information on the reported N45bn debt allegedly owed to them by the Federal Government.
The call follows a recent statement by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, who appealed to President Bola Tinubu to compensate the family as a gesture of national healing and justice.
Lamido claimed that Abiola’s company, International Telephone & Telegraph, completed major communications contracts for the military government in the 1970s but was never fully paid.
He alleged that a former head of state, Murtala Muhammed, acknowledged the debt before his assassination in 1976.
However, the family is skeptical about the claim, with Jamiu Abiola, a representative of the family, saying, “The former governor did not say what the money was owed for. He didn’t give much details about it. Before we can say more about it, we need more details.”
The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has urged President Tinubu to act on the matter, saying the payment would be a gesture of honouring Abiola’s sacrifices for Nigeria’s democracy.
A senior official in the Presidency has stated that the family could file claims if it had enough evidence, adding that Lamido had “no business” speaking for the family.
The controversy has reignited public discourse around Nigeria’s democratic journey and the sacrifices of Abiola, who died in detention in 1998 after his struggle to reclaim his electoral mandate.