Despite being denied victory by the military, Chief Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, has stated that he defeated former President Olusegun Obasanjo by 1.5 million votes in the 1999 presidential election.
Falae argued that the military rigged the election to favor Obasanjo because they were worried that if he won, he would question their system.
According to reports, Chief Falae made the assertion Thursday in an interview with Arise News in honor of 2025’s June 12 Democracy Day.
He said that his attorney was also successful in proving in court that Obasanjo was out of the running for president in 1999 because the ballots were manipulated.
We did fight for democracy, yes. Alongside my boss and now friend, General Olusegun Obasanjo, I ran for president in February 1999. I won the election, and everyone knew it.
“Remember, I got legal representation from the late Chief G.O.K. Ajayi (SAN) when I went to court. I won by 1.5 million votes, according to the results that were replicated and counted, as G.O.K. was able to prove.
And much later, the late Deinde Fernandez told me that he had witnessed the American election results and that I had won by a wide margin. Most Nigerians don’t have any doubts at all, and neither do I.
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According to Falae, “the military was obviously nervous about a truly courageous civilian succeeding them, but they would rather go for a hybrid civilian (politician) in the person of General Obasanjo.”
How could I have been so foolish?
Falae went on to say that he could not have been foolish enough to question a government he was a member of, as the military rulers feared.
They told me they were worried I would decide to look into the military if I were elected president. I was a member of Babangida’s government for five years, so that is absurd. After four years as secretary, he served as minister for a year. “How could I have the folly to question a government that I was a part of?” he said.
Remember how Obasanjo ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Falae ran on a combined ticket representing the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the All People’s Party (APP) for president in 1999?
