Tinubu Hosts MKO Premiere as Film Hits Cinemas

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday led a galaxy of top government officials, governors and political figures to the national premiere of MKO, a feature-length documentary chronicling the life, business empire and political legacy of the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.

The screening took place at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts (formerly the National Theatre) in Iganmu, Lagos, as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary. Tinubu attended with First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, marking his first major public engagement since returning from a four-week working visit to Europe on September 29.

Among those present were Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Hannatu Musawa, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kwara State Governor and Nigeria Governors’ Forum Chairman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang, and former Ogun State Governor Segun Osoba.

Directed by Nigerian-American filmmaker Ose Oyamendan, the 108-minute documentary revisits Abiola’s rise as a businessman, publisher and politician, his landslide victory in the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the military annulment of the poll, his subsequent detention after declaring his mandate, and the nationwide pro-democracy struggle that followed until his death in custody in 1998.

The film draws on rare archival footage and first-hand accounts from key figures of the era, including former military rulers General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, Abiola’s running mate Baba Gana Kingibe, members of the Abiola family, foreign diplomats, journalists, and Theodore Zadok, who served as Abiola’s security guard during his detention. President Tinubu, who participated in the pro-democracy movement after the annulment, also features in the documentary.

Oyamendan, a former journalist with Weekend Concord during the June 12 crisis, has described the work as an examination of Nigeria’s unfinished democratic journey and the consequences of the election’s annulment. The film had its international premiere at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2026, before its Nigerian debut.

ADVERTISEMENT

Speaking at the Lagos premiere, the director paid tribute to Tinubu and recalled the President’s role in the struggle against military rule. The event carried layered symbolism: Tinubu and Abiola once belonged to the same Social Democratic Party, and the screening linked Abiola’s “Hope ’93” campaign with Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda on the country’s Independence Day.

Distributed by Nile Entertainment, MKO begins its nationwide commercial cinema release today, Friday, October 2, bringing the story of one of Nigeria’s most consequential political episodes to a wider audience beyond the premiere guests.