President Bola Tinubu on Thursday evening led a high-powered delegation of top government officials to the national premiere of the documentary MKO, a compelling film on the life and enduring legacy of the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, winner of the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The event, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts in Iganmu, Lagos, drew an impressive lineup of dignitaries. The President was accompanied by First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Also in attendance were Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu, Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila, Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Hannatu Musawa, former Ogun State Governor Aremo Segun Osoba, and other senior government figures.
Directed by Nigerian-American filmmaker Ose Oyamendan, MKO traces Abiola’s remarkable journey—from business titan to political trailblazer—with a sharp focus on the June 12, 1993 election, its abrupt annulment by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, Abiola’s subsequent detention, and the fierce pro-democracy struggle that followed.
The documentary, which enjoyed its international premiere at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival in the United Kingdom in June 2026, blends rare archival footage with powerful first-hand accounts from key figures of the era.
Following its Lagos national premiere on October 1, MKO is set for nationwide cinema release on October 2, 2026, offering Nigerians a timely and poignant reminder of one of the defining chapters in the nation’s democratic history.
Chief MKO Abiola remains a towering figure in Nigeria’s political narrative as the man widely acknowledged to have won the freest and fairest election in the country’s history—an election whose annulment sparked a prolonged fight for democratic restoration.
