Former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar has dismissed long-standing claims that Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was poisoned, stating that an international autopsy concluded the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election died from natural causes.
In his autobiography, Call of Duty, unveiled in Abuja, Abdulsalami disclosed that pathologists from Nigeria, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada conducted the autopsy at the request of Abiola’s family following his death on July 7, 1998.
According to him, the report found no evidence of poisoning and attributed the death to natural causes.
He explained that Abiola collapsed during a meeting with a visiting American delegation that included former U.S. officials Tom Pickering and Susan Rice.
Abdulsalami further revealed that Abiola had been battling pre-existing health conditions, including hypertension and a heart ailment, since at least 1994.
He cited a medical report indicating that Abiola had an enlarged heart consistent with hypertensive cardiac disease.