Following the annulment of the presidential election held on June 12, 1993, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) established a provisional administration known as the Interim National Government (ING) and appointed Chief Ernest Shonekan as its head, according to Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals. He claimed this was an attempt at political manoeuvring, but it backfired.
Alake stated in a video that TVC published that Babangida believed that naming Shonekan, a native of Abeokuta and the hometown of MKO Abiola, as head of state would alleviate political tensions. He added that the Yorubas, on the other hand, had rejected Shonekan, saying that they had actually voted for MKO Abiola.
In Alake's words: "IBB went to Abeokuta, the hometown of MKO to pick Ernest Shonekan as Head of State, but the Yorubas said we didn't vote for Shonekan, we voted for MKO and you don't earn the leadership of Yorubas simply because you have money or because you have influence to buy them" The interview can be viewed starting at 11:19 in the video.