I, not Obasanjo, won 1999 presidential election – Olu Falae

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and 1999 presidential candidate, Olu Falae, has asserted that he actually won the election that marked Nigeria’s return to civilian rule—not Olusegun Obasanjo.

Speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Thursday during Democracy Day programming, Falae alleged that the official results of the 1999 presidential election were manipulated to deny him victory. According to the elder statesman, a detailed legal analysis by his late counsel, Chief J.O.K. Ajayi, showed that he defeated Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by over one million votes.

“I was told by my lawyer, the late Chief JOK Ajayi, that I won the election by over a million votes after a meticulous assessment of the figures declared,” Falae revealed.

Despite this, Falae explained that his team chose not to pursue legal action, prioritizing Nigeria’s fragile transition from decades of military rule to democracy.

“But we decided not to go to court. We were more concerned about the country returning to democracy peacefully after years of military rule,” he said.

Falae’s remarks have reignited old debates from Nigeria’s transitional period following the death of General Sani Abacha and the interim leadership of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who oversaw the shift to democratic governance.

The 1999 elections were widely viewed as a political compromise, intended to placate the South-West region after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election believed to have been won by MKO Abiola. Falae’s candidacy, backed by the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the All Peoples Party (APP), was seen as an olive branch to the Yoruba people, while Obasanjo, also a Yoruba and former military ruler, ran under the PDP with strong military and political elite support.

“There was so much pressure not to rock the boat. We made sacrifices for democracy to return. I accepted it in good faith then, but the truth must be told: I won that election,” Falae stated.

He added, “It’s not about me. It’s about the truth. Nigeria deserves to know the real story behind its so-called democratic rebirth.”

Reflecting on Nigeria’s democratic journey, Falae lamented the persistent challenges of electoral credibility, arguing that despite continuous democratic rule since 1999, Nigeria has struggled to conduct free and fair elections since the 1993 annulled poll.