Justice Saleh who annulled June 12 election dies at 81

Justice Dahiru Saleh, the judge who announced the annulment of the June 12, 1993, Presidential election, has died at the age of 81.

June 12, 1993, Presidential election was presumably won by the late MKO Abiola of the defunct Social Democratic Party after defeating his closest rival, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, of the National Republican Convention.

The action, which took the nation by storm on June 23, 1993, was motivated by the then ruling military dictator, Gen Ibrahim Babangida.

The retired judge reportedly died on Thursday afternoon in his hometown, Azare, headquarters of the Katagum Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

He was buried at the Palace of the Emir of Katagum the same day in accordance with Islamic rites.

He was born on August 22, 1939 in Azare. He attended the Azare Primary School from 1948 to 1951 and then proceeded to the Azare Senior Primary School in 1952 where he was till 1955.

Saleh then went to the Barewa College, Zaria in 1956-1969. He then went to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1961 to 1962 and the Council of Legal Education, London (Middle Temple) between 1962 and 1965.

He began work as Pupil State Counsel Northern Nigeria in 1966. He worked in several places and rose to become the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja from 1984 to 2003 where he retired.

His death was announced by one of his grandsons, Armayau Abubakar Liman, on his Facebook page.

He wrote, “Inna lilahi wa inna ilahi rajiun. My grandfather, Justice Muhammad Dahiru Saleh, (retd.), former CJ FCT (Matawalken Katagum), has passed on this afternoon. I solicit your prayers for Allah’s mercy on his soul. Allah ya gafarta Maka Baba Justice. Allah ya kyauta makwanci ka da sauran Alumma baki daya”.

The Bauchi State Government has yet to make any official pronouncement over his death.