General Abdulsalami Abubakar has opened up about how late General Sani Abacha pulled him into the 1993 coup. The retired military leader made these revelations in Chapter 17 of his new autobiography, "Call of Duty."
Abdulsalami was serving as Commandant of the National War College when political tensions over the annulled June 12, 1993, election escalated. Abacha, who led the coup against the Interim National Government, offered him the position of Chief of Army Staff twice.
He rejected both offers. According to Abdulsalami, he told Abacha he wouldn't become a pawn for civilians trying to manipulate the military.
At that time, Abacha held the rank of Minister of Defence under the Interim National Government. He remained the most senior active military officer, having been retained by the Babangida regime to steady the armed forces.
Abdulsalami's first warning came in November 1993. Rear Admiral Suleiman Saidu, then Chief of Naval Staff, visited him at home one Monday evening.
Saidu came with urgent news about Abacha and another official, Gusau, traveling to Abuja. "These Army guys are thinking of a coup," Saidu told him, according to Abdulsalami's account.
Saidu added that the Navy would stay out of any coup plot. Abdulsalami immediately distanced himself from the scheme.
"I was surprised that Abacha knew he would be travelling to Abuja and still asked me to see him on Tuesday," Abdulsalami wrote. He stressed this was his first inkling of the planned takeover.
Two days later, retired Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua called him with similar concerns. Yar'Adua asked what was happening with plans to remove Chief Ernest Shonekan.
"I replied, 'Like what?'" Abdulsalami recalled. He said he had no knowledge of any removal plot but promised to investigate.
That phone call marked the second time Abdulsalami heard rumors about the coup. The retired general documented these conversations in his 264-page, 27-chapter memoir as proof of his initial distance from Abacha's scheme.
