Israel Oluyemi
Filmmaker Ose Oyamendan’s 108 minute documentary MKO examines the unresolved circumstances surrounding the death of businessman and June 12 presidential election winner Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
The documentary explores Abiola’s political struggle, the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and his subsequent detention during Nigeria’s military era.
It also examines events surrounding Abiola’s death on July 7, 1998, when he collapsed while meeting a United States delegation.
The film considers different accounts of what happened before his death, including questions surrounding the tea he was served, without presenting an unsupported conclusion about the cause of his death.
Oyamendan uses archival material and interviews with people connected to the June 12 events to examine the circumstances surrounding Abiola’s political journey and death.
Those interviewed include former military rulers Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former electoral chief Humphrey Nwosu.
Abiola’s former running mate, Baba Gana Kingibe, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, members of the Abiola family, journalists and diplomats also provide perspectives for the documentary.
Oyamendan brings a personal connection to the subject, having worked as a young journalist with Weekend Concord during the June 12 crisis.
The filmmaker presents MKO as more than a documentary about Abiola, describing it as an examination of “Nigeria’s unfinished democratic story” and the consequences of the annulment of the June 12 election.
That approach connects Abiola’s political experience to Nigeria’s wider history of military rule, democratic struggle and political development.
The documentary had its world premiere at Sheffield DocFest 2026 in the United Kingdom and will have its Nigerian premiere on October 1, 2026.
The Nigerian premiere will coincide with Independence Day, placing the documentary’s examination of June 12 and Nigeria’s democratic history within the country’s broader national story.
Through archival records and accounts from people connected to the events, MKO brings renewed attention to Abiola’s political struggle, his death and the historical questions surrounding the June 12 crisis.
