Former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, has dismissed long-standing allegations that late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was poisoned in detention, insisting that international medical findings confirmed he died of natural causes while in custody in 1998.
Abdulsalami made the disclosure in his newly released autobiography, Call of Duty, where he revisited the controversial circumstances surrounding the death of MKO Abiola, winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.
According to him, Abiola collapsed during a meeting with a visiting United States delegation that included former U.S. officials, among them Tom Pickering and Susan Rice, shortly before his death on July 7, 1998.
He said contrary to widespread conspiracy theories that Abiola was deliberately eliminated, a post-mortem examination conducted by an international team of pathologists concluded that he died of natural causes.
“I do not believe Abiola was poisoned. The family requested an autopsy and we assembled American, British, Nigerian and Canadian pathologists to conduct it. The autopsy report attributed his death to natural causes,” Abdulsalami wrote.
The former military ruler noted that Abiola had been on medical watch for years before his death, revealing that a 1994 medical report by a Nigerian Army specialist indicated he suffered from an enlarged heart and hypertensive heart disease.
In the memoir, Abdulsalami also cited accounts from members of the visiting American delegation, who described how Abiola’s condition deteriorated rapidly during the meeting.
He said Abiola reportedly began coughing shortly after the session started, a symptom that worsened within minutes, alongside complaints of excessive heat and visible fatigue.
According to the account attributed to Pickering, Abiola later excused himself to the restroom but returned in a distressed state and struggled to breathe before collapsing.
“Had trouble breathing, went into the toilet and came out obviously very distressed,” Pickering was quoted as saying.
The delegation members reportedly rushed to assist him, with Abiola subsequently moved to a nearby clinic due to the absence of an ambulance at the time. Medical personnel, however, were unable to revive him.
Abdulsalami said he received the news of Abiola’s death through his Chief Security Officer, describing the moment as shocking and emotionally devastating.
“My CSO called me in a shaky voice and said there was a problem. I asked what problem. He said Abiola was dead. My head went blank,” he wrote.
He also recounted informing Abiola’s family, noting that the moment was highly emotional as relatives broke down in tears.
Addressing persistent public suspicion, Abdulsalami argued that the presence of foreign diplomats during the incident helped dispel allegations of a government cover-up.
“If we had not allowed the American delegation to see him and he had died in custody, it would have been a different story,” he said.
The former Head of State also used the memoir to firmly deny allegations that he benefited from the regime of late military ruler Sani Abacha, describing claims that he received $500 million as “pure fantasy” and “absolute imagination.”
Abdulsalami, who took over leadership after Abacha’s death in 1998, later supervised Nigeria’s transition to civilian rule, handing over power to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
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