Moshood Abiola wins Nigeria's freest election, only for the military to jail him. When U.S. diplomats arrive to negotiate his release, he is served tea, and dies.
MKO unravels the cover-up behind one of Africa's most consequential political crimes. In 1993, Abiola, the world's richest Black man, won a landslide victory that the military swiftly annulled. What followed was years of imprisonment, international negotiation and, ultimately, a death that has never been fully explained. The investigation draws on extraordinary access on all sides of the story: current and former Nigerian presidents, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Abiola's family and the U.S. delegate who was in the room when he died. Those implicated in the annulment also appear, offering conflicting accounts that unravel against one another. As the trail leads through broken promises from Washington and London, the question of who killed Abiola becomes inseparable from the question of who abandoned Nigerian democracy.
Documentary
From bold creative non-fiction, investigative thrillers and vital contemporary issues, Documentary at Showroom is dedicated to discovering, sharing and discussing the stories of our times.
Director Ose Oyamendan
Year 2026
Duration
1h 48m
Language English