President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu attended the national premiere of MKO, a documentary chronicling the life, political career and legacy of the late businessman and politician, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
The premiere was held on Thursday, October 1, at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts in Iganmu, Lagos, as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.
Tinubu attended the event as Chief Host alongside his wife, with several senior government officials, political leaders and other dignitaries also present.
Among those at the premiere were Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Directed by Nigerian-American filmmaker Ose Oyamendan, the MKO Abiola documentary examines Abiola’s rise as a businessman, publisher and politician, as well as his participation in the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The film also revisits the annulment of the election by the military government, Abiola’s subsequent detention and the pro-democracy struggle that followed.
Abiola became a central figure in Nigeria’s political history after the annulment of the June 12 election, which has widely been regarded as having been won by him. His detention and death in custody in 1998 further shaped the political crisis surrounding the period.
The documentary uses archival footage and interviews with personalities connected to the events, including former military leaders Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and Abiola’s running mate in the 1993 election, Baba Gana Kingibe.
Other contributors include former United States Ambassador to Nigeria Walter Carrington, former US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, former Canadian High Commissioner Gerald Ohlsen and members of the Abiola family.
Tinubu is also featured in the documentary because of his involvement in the pro-democracy struggle during the period of military rule.
Oyamendan said the film provides an opportunity for Nigerians, particularly younger generations who did not experience the June 12 crisis, to revisit the events and understand their place in the country’s democratic history.
The filmmaker also paid tribute to Tinubu at the premiere, recalling the role he and others played in the campaign for the recognition of the June 12 mandate.
The MKO Abiola documentary had its international premiere at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2026, before its national premiere in Lagos.
Following the October 1 premiere, the documentary is scheduled to begin its commercial cinema run across Nigeria on Friday, October 2.
The choice of Independence Day for the national premiere connects Abiola’s story and the June 12 struggle with Nigeria’s broader political and democratic history.
