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Tag: June 12

  • June 12: How Adedibu won SDP ticket for MKO – Aboderin

    •Says IBB wanted Pascal Bafyau or Maitama Sule as MKO’s vice

    Chief Abimbola Moyosore Aboderin, son of the First Republic politician and businessman, the late Olola Moyosore Aboderin, in this encounter with some journalists, gives an untold account of how the June 12 struggle began, reports Oziegbe Okoeki.

    THE story of June 12 will continue to be told over and over again as the dramatis personae begin to come out of their shell one after the other to give fresh angle and insight into the events immediately preceding and following after the June 12, 1993 election won by the then business mogul, the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola but nullified by then Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida.

    One of such persons who knew and was part of the genesis of the struggle, which he said was later hijacked by National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) was Chief Abimbola Moyosore Aboderin, son of the First Republic politician and businessman, the late Olola Moyosore Aboderin, who founded and financed the Ibadan Peoples Party and also a foundation member of Action Group.

    Aboderin himself has twice contested but lost the senatorial seat of Oyo South Senatorial District, first on the platform of then All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), in 2003 and in 2014 under the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Aboderin told our correspondent that four of them, the late MKO Abiola, the strong man of Ibadan politics, the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu, himself and Abiola’s lawyer then, who is now an Oba in Ibadan, Oba Abimbola Ajibola, were the four people who started the June 12 struggle which was later taken over by NADECO completely sidelining them except Abiola who was the arrowhead of the struggle. According to him the four of them took decisions and executed them and they used to meet regularly in Adedibu’s house. And against the earlier decision they took that Abiola should dialogue with the then powers that be about the nullified June 12 election, NADECO came in with activism and opted for confrontation, shielding Abiola from the remaining three.

    In recognition of his struggle for the actualisation of MKO’s presidential mandate, Aboderin received an award of Champion of Democracy/Personality of the year 2018 at the 12th Nigeria Media Nite-out Award.

    Aboderin’s story on June 12: “I knew Abiola through my father, who was a politician and businessman and we became good and close friends; Adedibu, the then strong man of Ibadan politics, was more or less like the father of politics in the country then; everybody used to come to him to discuss politics, but he was my father’s boy or political son; he learnt from my father and that is how we became close, Chief Abimbola Ajibola was then Abiola’s lawyer.

    “When the Social Democratic Party (SDP), 1993 Jos convention was getting close, as I went to Adedibu’s house which I visit regularly, I met MKO there and he told me he was worried about the convention because the North had more delegates and if that is the case, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who was contesting the position of president with him will definitely win and that is why he has come to see Baba Adedibu. I encouraged him and told him God will do it. From there, Adedibu became his political godfather.”

    Aboderin said he was in Jos for the convention as a special monitor to monitor the election and “to do whatever I can to ensure that MKO wins, but as voting was going on, it was clear that Atiku was winning.

    “Atiku was winning because he was using the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua’s political structure, remember Yar’Adua had won the first election of SDP, which was cancelled by Babangida. Yar’Adua was Atiku’s boss. Adedibu confessed that we cannot win the election; that we have to do something. Yar’Adua was in Jos waiting for the outcome of the election.

    “So, Adedibu went to see Yar’Adua in the night while voting was still going on but glaring that Atiku was winning. He told the late General that in the last election, which he won, he Adedibu made all the Southwest delegates to vote for Yar’Adua and that this time around the retired General should do something for him that he should ask Atiku to step down for his candidate, MKO.”

    Aboderin said it was a very difficult situation for Yar’Adua but he had no choice than to accept Adedibu’s plea and that was how Atiku stepped down and MKO Abiola emerged as the presidential candidate of SDP.

    “But Atiku’s people were not happy that we won the election; they almost lynched us. We had to sneak out of Jos but before then, I was given a letter of thank you for Yar’Adua which I handed over to him in his house in Jos, thanking him for his support and ensuring MKO’s victory.

    “We came back to Ibadan and campaign started. We put everything in place, even organised a campaign fund raising event at Premier Hotel, Ibadan on 16th May, 1993 with me as secretary of the fund raising committee where together with previous campaign donations we realised N350m in cash, which was kept in my custody over night before we drove down to Lagos and handed the money over to Abiola”.

    All this time, Aboderin said things were still rosy between Babangida and MKO; they were still very good friends and interacting well.

    “All this time, Babangida and MKO were good friends and I don’t think he deliberately wanted to scuttle his election but the issue that started the whole wahala was the issue of who becomes Vice President to MKO Abiola.”

    Aboderin said Abiola told him that IBB gave him two names to choose from but Adedibu changed it saying they were not even politicians. The two names were the former Labour leader, Paschal Bayfiau and the cerebral Maitama Sule “but Adedibu said it should be given to the SDP Chairman, Babagana Kingibe, arguing that as the party chairman, he could mess things up for SDP and that MKO should go and tell IBB. I think IBB was not happy, that was the beginning of the wahala.

    “At this time, IBB was no longer happy with Abiola but he kept his cool.

    “The election came and it was very peaceful; it was in fact the best election in the history of this nation. And we had already started celebrating victory in MKO’s residence at Ikeja when we heard that the election has been annulled and we were shocked.

    “The first reaction was to mobilise Adedibu’s traditional fighters and other groups like Agbekoya in Ibadan into the street and Ibadan people were ready to fight but were prevailed on to hold their peace and MKO didn’t want war.

    “We advised for dialogue with the government so that some concessions can be made and we also advised MKO to go outside the country and declare himself president in exile; if he had done that, he would have become president eventually.

    According to him, it was at this point NADECO came in and hijacked the struggle. “They penetrated MKO and it became difficult for us to even see MKO. They jettisoned all our advise for dialogue and opted for confrontation. I believe if there had been dialogue with IBB, there would have been solution.

    He identified some of the NADECO members as Senator Adesanya, Alfred Rewane, Ekwueme and others.

    On the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day by President Muhammadu Buhari, Aboderin said what Buhari did is good “because it is time for us to get things right but you know you cannot satisfy human beings; there are some who are happy with the development while some others are not happy, but I say ‘well-done’ to Buhari.

    “However, those of us who started the struggle with Abiola have not been compensated while NADECO members who only hijacked the struggle midway have been duly taken care of; we have the real story of June 12.”

    Aboderin, who said he loves Buhari as a person, believes that the president means well for the country and that despite some observable shortcomings of his administration, like insecurity, especially killings by herdsmen, which he believes is the handwork of some people out to sabotage the president, he however said something must be done to stop the killings, general insecurity and poverty in the country.

  • Group advocates restructuring as solution to Nigeria’s problems

    A group, the June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations, has advocated restructuring of the country as the solution to its problems.

    The group’s acting chairman, Mr. Linus Okoroji, who addressed reporters at a press conference in Ilupeju, Lagos, to herald the celebration of the June 12 anniversary, said: “It is our considered view that restructuring of the Nigerian polity is the true answer to the myriad of challenges besieging the country.

    “There are crimes of all sorts all over the place, through the North East, North West, North Central, South West, South East and South South – insurgency, kidnapping, banditry, farmers/herdsmen clashes, armed robbery, oil pipeline vandalism and ritual killings, resulting in deaths of innocent citizens and destruction of properties worth billions.

    Read Also: Group seeks support for education

    “Therefore, we at the June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations are left with no option, but to insist that only the return to federalism, as practised prior to the incursion of military adventurists into our country’s political life, can set Nigeria back to the path of glory, progress, stability and prosperity”.

    Okoroji said the Federal Government should set up a constituent committee to review and harmonize the various national conferences’ reports to date, including the PRONACO draft constitution, and issue a white paper for the implementation of the recommendations for a democratic Nigeria.

    On the increasing level of poverty in the country, Okoroji said the June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations is of the conviction that only a functional educational system complemented by the requisite vocational training and acquisition of skills “can equip our youths with the much needed expertise needed to weather the storm of unemployment in an ever-changing world.”

    The general secretary, Mr. Nelson Ekujumi, said states should be allowed to manage their resources as it was done in the First Republic, adding that this would enhance development.

  • June 12, military cult and PMB’s ritual offering

    It is difficult not to read politics to President Muhammadu Buhari’s avowal of June 12. If posthumous awards for MKO and Gani Fawehinmi were truly intended to re-connect the President to the progressive community ahead of the 2019 polls, it turned out a master-stroke indeed, going by the outpouring of goodwill for the general.

    The man likely to be biting his finger this hour discreetly must be Goodluck Janathan. Like many things he attempted in five years, the immediate past president bungled the bid to appropriate some mileage from June 12. His renaming UNILAG “MAU” (or MAU-MAU as traducers cheekily chose to echo in a backhand invocation of Kenya’s notorious colonial Mau-Mau guerrillas) dried up almost immediately with the ink it was written.

    Perhaps, this time, the fakir from Daura was shrewd enough to engage the right medicine man for a better charm. Only that could explain while whereas the Fawehinmi family flung back medal similarly offered posthumously by Jonathan (just the same way Gani had rejected Umar Yar’Adua’s earlier in 2008), Buhari’s has been accepted with both hands in gratitude.

    But if we care to look deeper, there is surely a silver lining yet above the cloud of partisan opportunism here. Coming twenty-five years after the fact, the gesture could, in a way, be taken as an act of penance by a penitent member of a military caste that had violated democracy.

    As the ululation continues to echo across the nation over Buhari’s proclamation, Ibrahim Babangida must be a sad man today. His melancholy must be compounded by the shame of being finally exposed as nothing but a con man.

    Deluded IBB obviously wanted to do what none of his military forebears had done. He coveted eternal power but lacked the courage to come out openly and say so. While attempting to steal MKO’s popular mandate, he not only sold the nation a lie but also sought to cauterize national memory against remembering. Beaten to a corner, the “evil genius” then conceived the devious Interim National Government to wipe the memory of June 12.

    The same way OBJ could not be happy that the man, whose huge sacrifice he toiled so hard to deny even as little as a mere mention, is now being festooned with the nation’s highest garland posthumously. Neither could the Ota chicken farmer be amused that Gani who peppered him relentlessly with the worst invectives imaginable as “imperial president” would now be officially addressed as GCON.

    Nor could General T Y Danjuma also possibly have any cause to pop champagne at the good tidings. When the old Taraba-born warrior made himself available at one of the early “pro-democracy” summits in Lagos immediately after the annulment, he could barely conceal his impatience for the niceties of democracy. At some point, he was famously quoted as telling off pesky journalists: “Gentlemen, you know I’ve little or no time for all this your long talk about democracy. I’m here simply because I don’t like that man (IBB) there.”

    Or can thieving Sani Abacha, memorably dismissed as “intellectual midget trying to bring the nation down to his level” by Professor Wole Soyinka, be mollified for that matter. How depressing it must be for him wherever he is today to hear that MKO chained down for four years till he (the captor) died and who would curiously drop dead exactly a month later after Abacha, would now share the honour as fellow GCFR!

    Undoubtedly, June 12 annulment was the last act in a concatenation of defilements by two generations of buccaneering generals.

    In all its historicity, June 12 was a powerful expression by a nation that would appear to have outgrown the military that had held it down for a decade. By overwhelmingly endorsing a Muslim-Muslim ticket and voting above ethnic cleavages, the people could only be telling the generals the excuse of national fragility they kept retailing for hanging on to power was no longer tenable.

    In what must then be a fitting closure to history, it has now taken a general to uproot a lie planted by a fellow general on June 23, 1993. It is in the same spirit that we continue to yearn for a closure to the puzzle over the liquidation by parcel bomb of citizen Dele Giwa on October 19, 1986 when the same general was law-giver. The same way the nation would seek an update on Buhari’s earlier order that the police reopen the murder cases of Bola Ige, Marshal Harry et al during the reign of another general.

    Now, let no one downplay the therapeutic benefit of establishing the truth. For that is the first sure step to national healing. Truth may hurt initially, but it heals ultimately.

    This moral joint is what is missing in the argument by the likes of former Chief Justice Alfa Belgore who seem obsessed with the letter – rather than the spirit – of law. They had argued that since it is impossible to have MKO and Gani physically present, awarding the honour would be in vain.

    Not surprising, one Umar Ardo, an OBJ’s barefoot lackey, has floated the laughable idea of going to court to challenge Buhari’s decision.

    Though Femi Falana, SAN has done well to shine the light on the portion that might have appeared grey to the nay-sayers, it bears repeating that that is just what the spirit of law could also have envisaged. June 12 is never a speculation. It is a truth. To act or argue otherwise is to continue to dignify the big lie IBB told in 1993.

    The spirit of fundamentalism is inevitable in those who truly knew June 12 and lived its dark days intimately. I confess my own extremism here, having worked then as a young reporter in Concord Press owned by MKO.

    For the nation at large, perhaps what had made the trauma more unbearable was the culture of denial foisted and sustained with state might over the years. That lie first manifested in the specter of Ernest Shonekan who did not consider it dishonorable to seek to exercise power he neither won by ballot or secured by bullet.

    When the supremos of the now discredited military finally accepted to relinquish power in 1999, they strategically chose the eve of June 12 to disengage. The culture of denial was sustained by OBJ, ironically the biggest beneficiary of June 12, who now proceeded to indulge in perhaps the worst act of Gregorian incest by proclaiming May 29 (his own inauguration day) as Democracy Day in sheer contempt of the historic day Nigerians truly voted a new nation and in cruel denial of the supreme price paid by MKO and other martyrs.

    The Ota-based narcissist probably saw acknowledging June 12 as a favour to MKO, forgetting it was a historic duty to the nation actually violated. What’s more, soon after OBJ took over, the teaching of History was abrogated from our school syllabus, perhaps in order that the young Nigerians would never have the opportunity of knowing such sordid aspects of the nation’s past.

    If nothing at all, with the executive proclamation of June 6 (2018), credit must be given to Buhari for somehow bringing integrity back to national award. What further elevates the medals bestowed on MKO and Gani is its exclusivity. This is the first time the administration is awarding national honours since assuming office in 2015. A sharp departure from the past when national medals were dispensed yearly on industrial scale to recipients, many of whom in real life embody anything but honour. So much that at one of such bazaars, President Goodluck Jonathan was left to merely read out names of awardees without handing out commemorative medal or certificate, simply because his people kept updating the list until the last minute!

    Later, rumour of a racket began to swirl involving a ranking member of the administration. It was as if “bank alerts” were still pouring in while the brochure was already at the printer’s. In sum, award of national medal must be tied to idea or exertion that truly advances community or country. Only then will it have meaning or value.

    As for Baba Gana Kingibe, the fact that he is decorated with GCON being MKO’s running-mate can hardly launder his hands of treachery and perfidy. He has benefited only from the technicality of history. But that will hardly blot the memory of his succumbing to the temptation of the stomach at the defining moment.

    By the way, curiously missing among surviving SDP top brass invited by Aso Rock to the June 12 ceremony was Chief Tony Anenih, ironically the chairman of the winning party. It could not have been an oversight, but an omission borne out of emotional intelligence and due regard for the sensibilities of a nation still haunted by a difficult memory. For the education of Nigerians yet unborn or too young to understand the main issue during that historic decade, Chief Anenih’s moral stamina failed him in the hour of temptation.

    Lacking character when it mattered most, Anenih led the colluding faction of SDP leadership that acquiesced to Babangida’s inducement to trade June 12 away. Even while the knife that stabbed MKO in the back politically was still dripping blood, Anenih and co had earnestly begun to position themselves for seats in the ING.

    His career of treachery continued when his old political mentor and benefactor, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, later ended up in Abacha’s gulag in 1995 after valiantly spear-heading the lobby at the 1994 Constitutional Conference that fixed January 1996 as exit day for Abacha.

    Without hesitation or shame, jobbing Anenih again made himself available to be used to torpedo the popular motion championed by now incarcerated Tafida Katsina, removing the last obstacle to Abacha’s self-succession circus.

    So, had renegades like Anenih dared to gatecrash the June 12 memorial regardless, it would have been entirely surprising if the ghost of doughty MKO did not haunt them around the gallery relentlessly.

    All said, it is a lesson in the value of standing for something. The fruit of treachery is always bitter at the end.

     

    • First published in June 2018

  • Restore June 12, slay June 12

    June 12, as Nigeria’s new Democracy Day, is looming!  Pray, where would the likes of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, the self-named “military president”, hide their faces now?  His wayward cancelling of Basorun MKO Abiola’s sacred presidential mandate threw his country into chaos, absolutely unnecessary.

    And ay, Baba Iyabo!  As President and chief beneficiary of MKO’s martyrdom, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was as deluded as Gen. Babangida.  He not only had a hand in the June 12 annulment aftermath and the conspiracy to replace June 12 with with Chief

    Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government (ING), his was the classic ingratitude — his attempt to impose May 29 (the day he assumed power as elected president) as Democracy Day.  What fond hope!  What megalomania!

    Hardball is not ashamed to say he is thrilled the whole thing has blown up in his face — when he is still alive, still kicking and still screeching!  And to think all his anti-Buhari election-time gymnastics and latter-day Atiku endorsement may well have been tailored against the coming of this day!

    And for that matter, where is Chief Shonekan, the pathetic stooge, that allowed himself to be used to truncate the expressed will of Nigerian voters, of 12 June 1993?  Again, Hardball is glad God has also preserved his life to witness June 12 receive national recognition; and MKO get his due and national rehabilitation, for his supreme sacrifice.

    Kudos to the Muhammadu Buhari presidency for putting a closure to one of the most traumatic events in Nigerian political history, with the symbolic seal coming in three weeks, when June 12 would host Democracy Day celebrations.  Kudos too to the National Assembly for promptly giving the development legal backing.  Now, we know at least something good could come out of Bukola Saraki’s 9th National Assembly!

    Still, in this heightened hour of glory, the PMB Presidency must shoot itself in the foot, on the Kokori affair!  It’s a classic in presidential mad cow disease!  How can you restore June 12 and slay June 12 at the same time?

    How the Buhari presidency mismanaged the Kokori affair, in the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) board matter, reinforces the administration’s blindness and deafness to positive symbolism.

    The basic culprit here is clearly Labour and Employment Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige, who clearly laboured under the illusion that obduracy pays in the public space.  It doesn’t.

    It is even scandalous that Ngige, in his hubris, showed such concentrated contempt for Kokori, one of the brightest living symbols of June 12 and its struggles — the epic battle that finally put the Nigerian opportunistic military in their place.  Without Kokori’s heroics, Ngige wouldn’t have been governor in the high season of PDP’s political roguery.  Neither would he have been PMB’s minister.

    Eventually though, the buck stops on President Buhari’s table.  He ought to have called Ngige to order, given how seriously organized Labour felt on that matter; and how the Kokori humiliation riled — and still riles — the June 12 ensemble nationwide, among whom Hardball counts himself.

    PMB and his government must learn to maximize the propaganda value of their policies, actions and endeavours.  Unfortunately however, PMB’s greatest political master stroke already has a chink, in that formidable armour.  Good thing though: PDP appears too damaged by the June 12 question and too prone to waging silly campaigns to take advantage.

  • Senate approves June 12 as Democracy Day

    THE Senate has unanimously concurred with the Public Holiday Act (Amendment) Bill passed by the House of Representatives, which approved June 12 as Democracy Day.

    Edward Pwajok (Plateau APC) and Kayode Oladele (Ogun APC) sponsored the bill in the House of Representatives last year.

    The bill, which scaled third reading in in the House in March, was passed same month. It sought for an Act to amend the Public Holidays Act to declare June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria in view of current realities and exigencies of the modern time.

    Pwajok, who led the debate on the bill in the Green Chamber House, noted that before 1979, there were separate Acts regulating public holidays.

    The Plateau lawmaker recalled that in 1975, a law was enacted to repeal all state laws on public holidays and to streamline the process of declaring holidays for Nigeria.

    REad also: June 12 as Democracy Day excites activists

    He noted that by law, the President may declare any day a public holiday by public notice or Act through the Minister of Internal Affairs.

    Pwajok added that by the schedule of the Act, some days, such as New Year’s Day, National Day, like October 1 and religious festivals, are set aside for public holidays.

    The lawmaker said in 2000, the National Assembly amended the schedule to declare May 29 Democracy Day.

    Noting that in May 2018 President Muhammadu Buhari announced June 12 as the new Democracy Day, Pwajok posited that for the pronouncement of to become effective, the Public Holidays Act must be amended.

    Yesterday’s concurrence followed the presentation of a conference report by Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan at plenary.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki put the conference report to a voice vote and it was adopted by the lawmakers.

    In the bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on November 26, last year, the current democracy day, which is May 29, was deleted and replaced with June 12.

    Ahead of Buhari’s assent to the bill, the Federal Government had on Monday said the inauguration of the new administration on May 29 would be low-key.

    Other activities will be shifted to June 12.

    May 29 has been observed as Democracy Day since 2000. It will cease to be when the bill becomes law.

    The presidential election that was held on June 12, 1993, adjudged to be the freest and fairest ever was annulled by the then Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

    In the struggle for the validation of the results of the election, Chief Moshood Abiola, who won on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), was arrested and incarcerated by the military administration of the late Gen Sani Abacha.

    He died in detention on July 8 during the administration of former Head of State Ge. Abdulsalami Abubakar.

  • June 12 as Democracy Day excites activists

    Pro-democracy forces, statesmen, politicians and other stakeholders yesterday eulogised President Muhammadu Buhari for recognising June 12 as ‘Democracy Day,’ instead of May 29, which is Inauguration Day.

    Second Republic Senator Ayo Fasanmi said the President’s action showed that he is sensitive to public opinion.

    He said: “The recognition was done in recognition of the fact that the June 12, 1993 presidential election was the most credible election, whereby a Muslim/Muslim ticket was endorsed by Nigerians.”

    Fasanmi recalled that the symbol of the struggle, the late Chief Moshood Abiola, and his running mate on the platform of the proscribed Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe, won the poll because they were popular.

    He added: “It was the most democratic election in Nigeria. The result was symbolic and it must be acknowledged. Rigging did not happen at that time. I am in support of the recognition of the idea that votes must count. There was no bribery and vote buying on June 12, 1993. They won on merit. There was no tribal sentiment.

    “I did not know why Babangida annulled the election. Abiola is dead, but he deserves the honour. He was not sworn in. But, God has sworn him in as president of Nigeria.”

    Former Secretary to Military Government and prominent member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) Chief Olu Falae applauded the decision, saying that it was a right step in the right direction.

    He said: “It is a welcome development. We thank God that the president has finally seen the light and acknowledged what some of us fought for many years ago.”

    Falae, Olu of Ilu-Aabo, Akure, spoke on the cost and consequence of the epic struggle, lamenting that it led to harassment, humiliation, repression, detention of pro-democracy elements and exile.

    He stressed: “I hope the real heroes of democracy will be acknowledged as time goes on. The heroes are Gen. Alani Akinrinade, who had to leave the country, Bola Tinubu, Chief Anthony Enahoro, John Odigie-Oyegun who went on exile, Senator Abraham Adesanya, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and myself, who was sent to NADECO abroad to settle quarrels among our members. I was arrested and detained. My friend, Fredrick Fasehun, was detained, and his hands were chained in detention.”

    Second Republic Governor Balarabe Musa of Kaduna State said the decision has met the expectation of progressive forces, particularly those who fought for the revalidation of the June 12, 1993 election result.

    Alluding to the significance of the historic poll, he said not only was the exercise unifying, but it also erases the feeling of religious differences among Nigerians.

    Musa added: “This is a welcome development. All progressives agree with that and commend Buhari for making June 12 Democracy Day. It was the day Nigerians put aside all superficial differences to vote for a candidate of their choice. It is unlike May 29 when they gave power to Obasanjo. June 12 is the people’s day. We will all celebrate it on June 12. We expect the president to make a great statement on that day.”

    Former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Abubakar Tsav, said it is a good development that would help to unite all Nigerians. He said: “It is a very good development in recognition of the sacrifice of the late Moshood Abiola who won the June 12, 1993, presidential election, when Nigerians spoke with one voice. With this declaration, President Buhari wants to unite Nigerians; he wants to assuage the feelings of those who feel cheated by the annulment of that election. This is good.”

    Socio-political activist and the President of Core Caucus, a socio-political group, Prof Dele Fapohunda, also sees it as a welcome development.  His words: “It is a welcome development and a recognition of the fact that there was a day in this country when everybody agreed that an election that was free and fair was held.

    “It was a day everybody agreed that the issue of division along ethnic and religious lines was nullified. There was nothing like division during that election and even during the electioneering campaign. Everybody appeared to be on the same page when it comes to acceptance, recognition and respect for that day. So, I am not surprised.”

    Fapounda, who is also the Dean, School of Science and Technology, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, said the declaration of June 12 as ‘Democracy Day’ could help to inspire young Nigerians. He said: “I want Nigerians to keep on respecting that day so that it will serve as a form of inspiration to younger ones to embrace civil rule and civil conduct in every form of association and aspiration in life.”

    A former Vice President of the African Development Bank (ADB), Chief Bisi Ogunjobi, said if the declaration would help to institutionalise democracy and good governance, then it would have served a purpose.

    Ogunjobi said the declaration is an indication that Nigerians have accepted that democracy is the way to go. His words: “I think for the first time, all those who fought for or against June 12 now have a common understanding. It is an acceptance by almost everybody now that democracy is the way to go.”

    The former ADB stalwart said the declaration is also significant in the sense that June 12 would now be a national public holiday. He said: “In the past, it is not in every state that it was accepted as a public holiday. Now it has become a national public holiday. So, irrespective of your leaning, the day is now an official public holiday for all Nigerians. I think this is very significant.”

    Read also: Tinubu hails Buhari for making June 12 Democracy Day

    The Southeast Secretary of the Campaign for Democracy (CD), a non-governmental organisation, Dr Jerry Chukwuokolo, said President Buhari is playing to the gallery and trying to legitimise his hold on power.

    Chukwuokolo said: “I sincerely do not see anything spectacular about that. First of all, Mr President was part of those who annulled that election. He used the issue of June 12 as a strategy to win the recent election, which is normal. But, at the same time, I don’t think there is anything special about that declaration, because the man is not an avowed democrat – he is not even a democrat at all, let alone being an avowed democrat. What is that whitewashing that he is trying to do?

    “As far as I am concerned, he is just trying to hold on to power by all means. The election may have been won and lost, but the processes that led to the winning or losing of the contest are extremely important. What thing that is definite is that the country will never be the same again. As far as I am concerned, this issue is beyond winning and losing the election. The issues are that somebody has acted out a script and an unimaginable level of deceit.”

    Senator Okunrounmu, a former Secretary of Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, said: “I understand that the President will be sworn in on May 29, the governors will be sworn in on the same day. So, there is nothing that is left out of the previous activities.

    “The only thing left is the holy day which most of the Southwest states have been observing in the past. There is nothing left to be done on June 12 apart from observing the holiday which we have always been doing. So, nothing has really happened apart from merely not observing the holiday on May 29.”

    Afenifere chieftain Chief Ayo Adebanjo said: “I have no misgiving about June 12 as democracy day that is the way to go. That is to slow down the agitations. If the government is serious, the President should do what is needful to make federalism work. I don’t believe he has done right by some of his actions and I am not interested in the comment about whether he did well by recognizing June 12 as democracy day.

    “There are germane issues that need to address which he has not done. What about people who are put behind bars without trial. What about not obeying court orders? These are not part of what M.K.O Abiola stood for and I am talking about reality. Abiola stood for the rule of law and transparency.

    “He should do what is expected for the people, he should give the people what they want. We supported him in 2007 because he wanted our votes and we have been supporting him but let him go into action and give the people what they really want by ensuring true federalism.

    “Let him go into action if he is serious about federalism. Let him implement the 2014 National Conference reports. I don’t believe in this 1999 Constitution that is the constitution, we say we don’t recognise, that is the constitution we say is not our own. Yet, that is the constitution being used in making of his pronouncement. How can we use the constitution to right what is wrong? He should send the constitution for a referendum that is what we recommended. It is not a matter of constitutional amendment by the National Assembly because the National Assembly is part of the problem we have. Let the people decide what they want and that is where I stand not all the petty and cut corners methods government had adopted in doing what he wants to do.”

    A lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Professor Ayo Olukotun, said the President’s decision to make June 12 Democracy Day is in order. He said the decision was a response to public opinion. He said “Nigerians, particularly civil right activists have over the years been clamouring for the recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day as against May 29. There is nothing significant about May 29 “.

    Olukotun said making June 12 Democracy Day is a response to history because, without June 12, there will be on May 29. It was June 12 that gave birth to May 29. It was June 12 activists that put pressure on the military to hand over power to the democratically elected government on May 29, 1999.

    He hailed President Buhari for taking the right decision on a sensitive national issue which his predecessors had failed to address for over two decades. Though belated, I think the President should be commended for doing the right thing, he added.

    A chieftain of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Professor Tunde Adeniran, said June 12 is the real democracy day. It should go down in history as real democracy day because it was the day Nigerians irrespective of tribe or religion came out to vote for a president of their choice. But unfortunately, the result of the election which was declared the most credible election in Nigeria was annulled.

    Adeniran, professor emeritus of Political Science, said: “Without June 12, there would be no democracy in Nigeria; it is very symbolic in the annals of Nigerian political history; it is tied to the soul of the Nigerian nation. We of the SDP are grateful that God has used President Muhammadu Buhari to do the right thing. We are happy that the president had taken that bold decision to heal the wounds of June 12.”

    June 12

    Lawyer and human right activist Monday Ubani said the declaration of June 12 as democracy day is a right decision and that President Buhari must be commended for it. He said official recognition of June 12 will serve as consolation for the family of the late M.K.O. Abiola and those who sacrificed their lives for the revalidation of the annulled June 12 presidential election results.

    Ubani said there is nothing important about May 29. He said the Federal Government should declare June 12 public holiday because it was a monumental event in the history of Nigeria

    He advised the president to go a step further by declaring Abiola president and accord him all the rights attached to the office of the president. President Buhari should complete the process and declare Abiola as the winner of June 12 presidential election; doing that will heal all the wounds, he added.

    Applauding the President, APC stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for a constitutional amendment to institutionalise June 12 as Democracy Day.

    He said: “By this wise yet visionary decision, the President has scored double: first he has accorded respect to the Constitution, which recognises May 29 as the date to inaugurate new terms of office while at the same time ensuring the country moves on the rightful path to formalising June 12 as new Democracy Day. This decision soundly balances current legal requirements with the quest for political justice.

    “For this feat in moving the country in the right direction, President Buhari and the Federal Government deserve commendation.

    “June 12 represents an important milestone in the annals of Nigeria’s democratic journey. It was the day Nigerians shunned ethnicity and religion to vote for that leader of their choice in an election adjudged clearly free and fair.

    “To complete this process that the President has started via Executive Order, we hope that the National Assembly act with reasonable dispatch in cooperation with the Presidency to assure that the requisite constitutional amendments are enacted to fully establish June 12 as Democracy Day.

    “As Nigerians, we have a role to play: rededicate ourselves to democracy, peaceful co-existence, togetherness and the hope for a greater future, all of which June 12 represented.”

    The process to accord June 12 recognition began last year when President Buhari officially named June 12 as Democracy Day by Executive Order.

    The President also recognised the winner of the June 12 election, the late Bahorun MKO Abiola, as a past president and awarded the highest honour – the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).

    The late Abiola’s running mate in the June 12, 1993 election, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, was recognised as a former vice president and bestowed with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) award.

  • June 12: Tinubu seeks urgent legislative action

    All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday urged the National Assembly to be on the same page with the Presidency in ensuring a constitutional amendment for the establishment of June 12 as the National Democracy Day.

    He was commending President Muhammadu Buhari for taking what he called an important step towards full recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day.

    Tinubu’s commendation came a day after Information, Culture & Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed unveiled the government’s decision to move the second term inauguration ceremonies to June 12.

    The minister spoke of plans by the Buhari administration to hold a low-key ceremony on May 29, which the Constitution recognises as the inauguration day of a new political dispensation.

    Mohammed hinted that other activities would be shifted to June 12 but that President Buhari will take the mandatory Oath of Office on May 29.

    Read also: Buhari hosts Tinubu to Ramadan breakfast at Aso Villa

    In a statement yesterday by the Tinubu Media Office, signed by Tunde Rahman, the former Lagos State governor said: “President Buhari and the Federal Government deserve thanks and commendation. President Muhammadu Buhari deserves our thanks and congratulations for taking another important step towards fully recognising June 12 as Democracy Day in our country.

    “The government moved the second term inauguration ceremonies to June 12 while events on May 29 would now be low-key swearing ceremonies in order to comply with the constitutional requirements covering the length of term for elected office-holders.

    “By this wise yet visionary decision, the President has scored double: first he has accorded respect to the Constitution, which recognises May 29 as the date to inaugurate new terms of office while at the same time ensuring the country moves on the rightful path to formalising June 12 as new Democracy Day. This decision soundly balances current legal requirements with the quest for political justice.

    “For this feat in moving the country in the right direction, President Buhari and the Federal Government deserve commendation.

    “June 12 represents an important milestone in the annals of Nigeria’s democratic journey. It was the day Nigerians shunned ethnicity and religion to vote for that leader of their choice in an election adjudged clearly free and fair.

    “To complete this process that the President has started via Executive Order, we hope that the National Assembly act with reasonable dispatch in cooperation with the Presidency to assure that the requisite constitutional amendments are enacted to fully establish June 12 as Democracy Day.

    “As Nigerians, we have a role to play: rededicate ourselves to democracy, peaceful co-existence, togetherness and the hope for a greater future, all of which June 12 represented.”

    The process to accord June 12 recognition began last year when President Buhari officially named June 12 as Democracy Day by Executive Order.

    The President also recognised the winner of the June 12 election, the late Bahorun MKO Abiola, as a past president and awarded the highest honour – the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).

    The late Abiola’s running mate in the June 12, 1993 election, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, was recognised as a former vice president and bestowed with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) award.

  • June 12: The making of the Democracy Day

    As from this year, May 29 will no longer be celebrated as ‘Democracy Day.’ According to President Muhammadu Buhari, June 12 is the authentic ‘Democracy Day.’ Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the significance of the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election won by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, the late Chief Moshood Abiola.

    The controversy is over. June 12, and not May 29, is the authentic ‘Democracy Day.’ On May 29, President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), newly elected governors and their deputies will be sworn in. But, the presidential inauguration will be low-key. To the President, June 12 is more suitable as Democracy Day because of its place in the nation’s history. It was on that date in 1993 that the late Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, won the presidential election under the Babangida transition programme. But the former military president annulled the election, setting off a chain of reactions.

    Although the winner did not get the crown, his immortalisation has become a psychological palliative and a soothing balm. President Buhari has given Abiola a posthumous award of Grand Commander of the Order of Federal Republic (GCFR). It is the highest in the land.

    To many observers, the June 12 poll was a watershed. Before and after it, there has been no more credible exercise. It has remained a reference point for obvious reasons. The election unified Nigeria. Also, it expressed the country’s capacity for democratic resilience and sanctity of the ballot box. It was the symbol of the epic struggle for liberation under neo-colonial military adventurists.

    Domestic monitors and foreign observers were unanimous that June 12 was the freest and fairest in the country. It was the climax of the elongated transition programme midwived by Babangida, who tossed millions of Nigerians around with his political experiments that were designed to fail. June 12 underscored the audacity of hope and its illusion under an insincere military ruler whose hand was heavy on the country.  Its annulment was the height of betrayal by the gap-tooth General.

    There were many casualties before the historic exercise. Old politicians of the first and second republics and some new breed were banned by the military after spending so much to campaign as presidential candidates. They were also clamped into detention along with their associates. The victims were Lema Jubril, Major Gen. Shehu Yar’Adua, Chief Olabiyi Durojaye, Mallam Adam Ciroma, Chief Layi Balogun, Chief Emanuel Nwnyanwun,  Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Chief Olu Falae and Dr. Olusola Saraki.

    Read also: June 12: Tinubu seeks urgent legislative action

    When the old brigade was shoved aside, the new brigade took the central stage. The two candidates-Abiola of the SDP and Alhaji Othman Tofa of the NRC- emerged from rigorous presidential primaries, following the exclusion of prominent chieftains from the exercise through the curious ban.  Abiola’s running mate was Alhaji Babagana Kingibe while Tofa’s running mate was Sylvester Ugoh, former governor of Central Bank of ill-fated Biafra. But, it was evident that the Abiola/Kingibe ticket was more formidable. It was unstoppable, even by the military.

    On poll day, Nigerians were determined to draw the curtains on military rule. They were not swayed by the campaign by the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN). Nigerians trooped out from across the federation to exercise their franchise. There was no disruption. The umpire, led by Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, was up and doing. The poll became a model. Nigerians, irrespective of their tribe and religion, thronged the polling booths to elect Abiola as president. Up to now, they are still awaiting the results. The effort was in vain. A winner emerged. But, military cruelty aborted the collective dream. Never has a country been ambushed by a soldier of fortune.

    Decades after the annulment, the bewildered nation-state is yet to recover from the colossal damage. June 12 was a pan-Nigeria movement. The goal was to halt military brutality and enthrone a legitimate leader with a national outlook. The exercise ended the partisan divisions cruelly exploited by self-serving leaders. The victor, Abiola, became a prisoner. He never returned from detention alive.

    The indomitable leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had predicted doom when many Nigerians embraced the Babangida transition programme. Having worked with the military, he understood the mindset of the soldiers. Military rulers, including Gen. Yakubu Gowon, under whom he served as minister, was reluctant to vacate power until he was toppled by Gen. Muritala Mohammed in 1975.  Awo also knew that Babangida, the ‘Evil Genius’ from Minna, was full of prevarication.

    When Awo declined to participate in the discussion on the country’s political future by the Political Bureau headed by Dr Cookey, he shunned the invitation. The sage declared that Nigeria had embarked on a fruitless search for democracy, adding that, when they imagined that the new order had arrived, they would be terribly disappointed.

    Having studied IBB’s chameleon’s styles, Awo urged his followers to exercise caution and learn to deal with IBB with a long spoon. A few months later, the great politician passed on.

    Between and 1986 and 1993, Nigeria became another IBB laboratory, where various kinds of experiments were carried out. On three occasions, the transition programme was postponed by IBB without any convincing explanation. Babangida cajoled unsuspecting politicians into forming political parties, which, according to the guidelines, should have national spread. When the electoral commission came up with their result sheets, they, in IBB’s reckoning, failed to measure up. The hammer fell on the 23 political associations. When politicians were banned, unbanned, detained, released and re-detained, Lagos lawyer, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, cried out that the entire transition programme was a fraud.

    However, after the initial successful primaries, the exercise was cancelled and participants were banned. Suddenly, the parties were in want of candidates. It was at that stage that Abiola and Tofa appeared on the scene.

    Abiola was a veteran presidential aspirant, even at that stage. Ten years earlier, he had wanted to contest on the platform of the banned National Party of Nigeria (NPN). His albatross was the Transport Minister, Dr. Umaru Dikko, who organised the party secretariat be shut to deny him nomination form. When Abiola emerged as the SDP candidate, he was perceived as a stranger. Kingibe, who later became his running mate, following pressures by the 14 SDP state chairmen, described him as someone who was on the sideline only to come and reap where he did not sow.

    Abiola actually consulted with his bosom friend, Babangida, who gave his blessing. He also apologised to the Awoists over his alleged sins against Chief Awolowo. The group, led by Chief Adekunle Ajasin, resolved to support him. Many people recalled his philanthropic activities. His message of hope, particularly the abolition of poverty, was captivating.

    The presidential debate was interesting. Abiola dwarfed Tofa because of his grasps of the situation; the economy, politics, security and other challenges.

    On poll day, Nigerians were united by the festival of political change. On long queues, they were orderly as they cast their votes for candidates of their choice.  As news filtered that MKO had won, the prices of goods and services came down

    Abiola polled 8,341,399, which represented 58.36 per cent, defeating his rival, Tofa. Even, in Kano, where Tofa hails from, the SDP won. Fawehinmi also said that Abiola won in the Army barracks.

    The Aare Ona Kankanfo of Yorubaland cried foul. A man of valour, he fought the military without the gun. He resisted frantic attempts to compromise him. At Epetedo, Lagos, he declared himself President, based on the unofficial results. He took a great risk. The consequence was fatal. Abiola declared: “On that day (August 27, 1993), the people of Nigeria, through their democratic expressions of June 12, 1993, expected me to assume the reins of government. I fully intend to keep that date with history.”

    However, on August 27, 1993, Babangida set up an interim contraption headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, after he stepped aside. While progressive elements, including Pa Ajasin, Pa Ayo Fasanmi, Falae, Senators Iyocha Ayu, Bol Tinubu, Nwite, Bola Ige,  Anthony Enahoro, Arthur Nwankwo, Ndubusi Kanu, Frank Kokori, Ayo Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi, Balarabe Musa, Amos Akingba, Alani Akinrinade, and Beko ransom-Kuti decried the annulment, others like Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo said, although it was lamentable, the setting up of the ING was understandable.

    Three months after the setting up of ING, Gen. Sani Abacha sacked the ING and set up a full military regime, after cajoling the political class to stabilise his regime As the clamour for the de-annulment of June 12 intensified, the military was on the prowl. Pro-democracy crusaders, including Tinubu, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Enahoro, Akinrinade, Commodore Dan Suleiman, Chief Raph Obiorah, Akingba and Wale Oshun-fled abroad. From there, they continued to fire salvos at the Abacha government. Before he fled abroad, Tinubu’s life was on the line. He was declared wanted by the military. His international passport had been impounded. He had to go underground. On October 9, 1993, his house on Victoria Island, Lagos was petrol-bombed. He also received threats on the telephone. He had to disguise as a ‘mallam’ on a motorbike to escape from the country through the ‘NADECO route’ to Benin Republic.

    As the June 12 battle dragged on, some crusaders became weary. Religion and ethnicity were invoked. The struggle adorned an ethnic colouration. Gradually, the rank of June 12 travellers was divided. Some crusaders, including Lateef Jakande, Abubakar Rimi and Ebenezer Babatope, were trapped in the Abacha Government. It was suicidal to resign.

    Abiola was sent into ‘prison’ without trial. He never returned alive. His wife, Kudirat, was murdered on the streets of Lagos. His business empire was crippled. His supporters dispersed. Although a brave High Court Judge, Dolapo Akinsanya, declared ING headed by Shonekan illegal, the verdict fell on deaf ears.

    Later, political jobbers put the June 12 poll behind them as they jostled for seats in the 1994 National Conference set up by Abacha. The Ibadan politician, the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu, came up with inexplicable bail conditions for Abiola, who turned it down, vowing not to let Nigerians down.

    June 12 continued to torment the military after Abiola’s death. Although Abacha passed on before Abiola, the symbol of the struggle was not released by Abacha’s successor, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. The circumstances surrounding Abiola’s death has remained in the realm of conjecture.

    The June 12 struggle may, in part, be described as a lost battle. However, it gave birth to the clamour for restructuring by Afenifere. It also led to a power shift to the Southwest. However, the beneficiaries of the struggle in 1999 were the same class of politicians, military confederates and cronies, whose activities culminated into the June 12 debacle.

    For 20 years, there has been an argument over whether May 29 or June 12 should be Democracy Day. On the two extremes of the debate are Obasanjo and Tinubu. To the former president, May 29 should be Democracy Day.

    His reason was that on May 29, 1999, democracy was restored to Nigeria, following a successful transition programme midwived by Gen. Abubakar. The process threw up Obasanjo as a civilian president.

    Obasanjo may not understand the significance of June 12. He was not one of the pro-June 12 crusaders. In fact, he said Abiola was not the messiah Nigeria was waiting for. He also supported the setting up of the ING.

    In the opinion of Tinubu, many Nigerians are emotionally attached to June 12 than May 29. Since 1999, pro-democracy forces have always celebrated democracy on June 12, owing to its symbolism and what Abiola stood for in his lifetime. Also, progressive administrations in the Southwest have always declared a public holiday to mark June 12 since 1999.

    Reference has always been made to June 12 as a model exercise that the nation should strive to re-enact in the national interest. But, there have been gaps between expectation and reality.

    The heroes of June 12 are too numerous. Apart from the symbol, Abiola, others are Kudirat Abiola, Ajasin, Adesanya, Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi, Tinubu, Durojaye, Ganiyu Dawodu, Lam Adesina, Alfred Rewane, Kofo Akerele-Bucknor, Cornelius Adebayo, Ndubusi Kanu, Abu Ibrahim, Polycarp Nwite, Senator Dantoro, Ibrahim Tahir, Ayo Opadokun, Falae, Arthur Nwanko, Obiorah, Enahoro, Olawale Oshun, Ige, Dan Suleiman, Akinrinade, Olisa Agbakoba, Kokori, Ndubusi Kanu, Prof. Nwosu, Justice Akinsanya, Ademola Adeniji-Adele, Femi Lanlehin, Wahab Dosunmu, Fawehinmi, Femi Falana, Balarabe Musa, Tunji Adebiyi, Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, Joe Igbokwe, and Okunrinboye.

  • House okays June 12 as Democracy Day

    PRO-JUNE 12 promoters won a major victory yesterday. The House of Representatives passed the bill to make June 12 a national holiday with the adoption of the report at the Committee of the Whole.

    “When the bill is assented to by the President, subsequent June 12 anniversaries will become public holidays to commemorate democracy, while 29 May will only be celebrated every fourth year when there is inauguration of a new President.”

    The proposed legislation titled: “A bill for an act to amend the Public Holidays Act, Cap. P40 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria,  2004 to bring the act in tandem with the current realities and exigencies of the modern times and to declare  June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria and for related matter,” was sponsored by Edward Pwajok (APC Plateau) and Kayode Oladele (APC Ogun).

    It was referred to the Committee of the Whole on November 22 by  Speaker Yakubu Dogara after passing the second reading on the floor.

    President Muhammadu Buhari declared June 12 a national holiday on June 6 .

    Pwajok, while presenting the bill last month argued that countries set aside some days to commemorate special events such as celebrating their independence, religious festivals, some heroes etc.

    He said: “For instance, President Ronald Reagan initiated the celebration of Martin Luther King’s Day as a holiday in the U.S.A. He is considered a civil rights hero in the U.S.A. May 1  is celebrated in most cities to celebrate workers.

    “There are individuals who have impacted so much on their countries, that they are celebrated with a declaration of public holidays such as George Washington of the U.S.A, (the First U.S President).

    “Certain events also have compelled the declaration of public holiday, such as Human Rights, Freedom. Youth, Women and National Reconciliation days in South Africa.

    “In many countries public holidays are not fixed, as they change from year to year. Thus, the U.S.A celebrates presidential inauguration only in the fourth year when new president is sworn in.”

    The lawmaker also said that in 2000, former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared May 29 as Democracy Day to celebrate the handover of government by the military to elected civilians.

    “This is in addition to celebrating independence on October 1  each year. The question needs to be asked whether the mere hand over of power on May 29, 1999 is more symbolic of democracy than the June 12  1993 election.

    “It is pertinent to remember that it was the crisis that accompanied the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election that led to not only the return of democracy in 1999 but the concession of the Presidency to the South West in 1999.”

    He said that declaring June 12 as Democracy Day will remind Nigerians of the supreme price many Nigerians including, M.K.O Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Alfred Rewane and Bagauda Kaltho among others, paid and many others that lost their jobs, properties and businesses.

    “It will also enhance national unity by reminding us that on June 12 1993 Nigerians de-emphasized religion by voting a Muslim-Muslim Social Democratic Party (SDP) ticket against a Muslim-Christian National Republican Convention (NRC) ticket.”

  • Reps pass bill to make June 12 a national holiday 

    The House of Representatives Thursday passed through Second reading a bill to make June 12 a national holiday in the country.

    The proposed legislation titled: “A bill for an act to amend the Public Holidays Act, Cap. P40 Laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004 to bring the Act in tandem with the current realities and exigencies of the modern times and to declare June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria and for related matter,” was sponsored by Hons. Edward Pwajok (APC Plateau) and Kayode Oladele (APC Ogun).

    Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari declared June 12 a national holiday on June 6 this year.

    Read Also:I was imprisoned for June 12 – APC Senatorial Aspirant, Osinowo

    Pwajok while presenting the bill said Countries set aside some days to commemorate special events such as celebrating their independence, Religious festivals, some heroes etc.

    “For instance, President Ronald Reagan initiated the celebration of Martin Luther king’s day as a holiday in the U.S.A. He is considered a civil Rights hero in the U.S.A, May 1st is celebrated in most cities to celebrate workers.

    “There are individuals who have impacted so much on their countries, that they are
    celebrated with a declaration of public holidays such as George Washington of the U.S.A, (the First U.S President).

    “Certain events also have compelled the declaration of public holiday, such as Human Rights, Freedom. Youth, Women and National Reconciliation days in South Africa.

    “In many countries public holidays are not fixed, as they change from year to year. Thus, the U.S.A celebrates Presidential inauguration only in the fourth year when the new President is sworn in.”

    The lawmaker said in the year, 2000, President Obasanjo declared 29 of May, each year as Democracy Day to celebrate the handover of Government by the military to elected civilians.

    “This is in addition to celebrating independence on October 1st each year.

    “The question needs to be asked whether the mere hand over of power on May 29, 1999 is more symbolic of Democracy than the June 12th 1993 election.

    “It is pertinent to remember that it was the crisis that accompanied the annulment of the June 12th
    1993 election that led to not only the return of Democracy in 1999 but the concession of the Presidency to the South West in 1999.”

    He said declaring June 12 as Democracy Day will remind Nigerians of the supreme price
    many Nigerians including M.K.O Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Alfred Rewane, Bagauda Kalto, etc paid and many others that lost their jobs, propertics, businesses etc.

    “It will also enhance National Unity by reminding us that on June 12 th 1993 Nigerians de-emphasized religion by voting a Muslim-Muslim  SDP ticket against a Musim-Christian NRC ticket,

    “It will therefore remind us of the need to be more nationalistic and Democratic, It also acknowledges the organizational skills of those who plgnned that election like
    Professor Humphrey Nwosu etc.”

    The lawmaker said though President Muhammad Buhari declared June 12 as a public holiday, in deference to the
    National Assembly which raised issues on the need to adhere to the law, there was no public holiday on June 12 2018.

    “However, if the Bill is passed and assented to, subsequent June 12 anniversaries will become public holidays to commemorate Democracy, while 29 May will only be celebrated every fourth year when there is inauguration of a new President.”

    When the Speaker,   Hon. Yakubu Dogara called for a voice vote on the bill, it was passed without dissent and referred to the Committee of the Whole.