He said the four personalities constituted a "criminal quartet" that subverted the will of Nigerians at the poll.

Soyinka, who spoke at the 14th anniversary of the annulled June 12 ,1993 presidential election, said that what the quartet did was treason.

He said, “As I stated at the hearing of the Congressional Caucus in the United States of America, this nation needs a commission that will sit in public and take evidence on the conduct of the recent elections.

“Let us be blunt about it – this electoral exercise constituted a hideous betrayal of a people‘s trust. It shamed us as a nation and as a people. It took us back to pre-history and dragged down to civic uncouthness.

“Those who have marvelled that a talented nation like Nigeria could produce such a demeaning form of international racket now known world – wide as 419 scam, comment that 419 is all in national character, since what transpired here for a democratic election was the political equivalent of the economic 419.”

Soyinka said that Yar‘Adua must understand that his failure to set up such a commission would confirm the consensus of election observers that the poll was fraudulent.

He said, “It may interest you to know that when I first mooted such an agenda during a meeting with a group of policy experts at the Elie Wiesel Foundation in New York, USA, a meeting that included some monitors and observers of our recent elections, one of them expressed the view that the President would never agree to set up such a commission.

“His reason? He was stationed in Katsina State and witnessed what transpired there. He provided a detailed account.”

Soyinka said that the examples of the old Yugoslavia and its leader, Milesovic and Dominican Republic, where the President had to step down after two years in power due to public dissent, were close enough for Yar‘Adua to see.

He further said that in addition to the commission, the President should consider an amendment to the 1999 Constitution.

“This is a document that is so bashful and so self-retiring that it hid under the Gen. Abdulsalami Abdusalami‘s bed throughout his tenure and transition and could not even be brought out to light the way to the elections of 1999. So just what were the people voting? Nothing but an illusion,” he said.

Soyinka also claimed that the desire of Obasanjo to pursue the failed third term project was responsible for the inability of the National Assembly to amend the constitution early enough.

The Nobel Laureate, who said he was breaking a vow not to speak about Obasanjo after May 29, 2007, explained that he had been forced to talk because the former President had not kept quiet.

He said, ”I have openly admitted that I took a decision to let this lord of misrule (Obasanjo) leave in peace and quiet. Alas, he simply will not keep quiet and leave ill alone.

“He (Obasanjo) has no regrets.He continues to call true speakers, witnesses and voices of caution ‘professional critics‘. He will not leave even the dead alone but must malign them, those who braved the umbrage of their own colleagues to serve under him, in what they saw rightly or wrongly, as national interest”.

The playwright further said that it was the roles played by Obasanjo and Ali that threw up people like Chief Lamidi Adedibu and the Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Andy Uba.

He also accused Ehindero of out-performing his predecessor, Mr. Tafa Balogun, in aiding the PDP to victory.

Soyinka, however, warned those celebrating their victories at the elections to beware.

He said that some of the songs of victory would be cut short by the election tribunals currently sitting across the country.

Also speaking at the event, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said there was the need for Nigerians to find out the minimum level of performance for any elected public officer.

Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said that June 12 placed an enormous burden on him, as he would not have been a governor, if not for the price paid by some victims of the crisis.

Also speaking, the chairman of the event, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd.), asked Nigerians to work towards the building of a stronger nation.

Hafsat Abiola-Costello, one of the daughters of the acclaimed winner of the June 12 presidential election, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, said that the Abiola family had no cause to regret despite the heavy loss it suffered in the struggles to actualise the mandate.

Apart from the fact that Abiola and one of his wives, Kudirat, died during the protracted crisis, his business empire also suffered.

Hafsat, founder of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, however, said that she and other members of the family believed that the struggles were genuine and all the sacrifices worth making.

She said, “Abiola may be dead today, the commitment that all of you have for the June 12 cause shows that he remains alive.”

She thanked Soyinka and other June 12 loyalists for believing in Abiola day and night.

“In spite of the controversies that might have surrounded him, you believed in him. You never backed out. I particularly have to thank Prof. Soyinka for his consistent support. In spite of whatever limitations you may have seen in our family, you stood with us steadfastly,” Hafsat said.

Some of those who attended were the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Sarah Sosan; the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN); Chief Ayo Opadokun; Dr. Kayode Fayemi; and Mr. Femi Falana.