June 12th 1993 was the day Nigerians came out in their numbers to elect a President whom they thought would take over from the them Military Regime that was fast loosing its good will and public acceptability. Despite concluding the elections, the results were never announced. The June 12th 1993 Elections was acclaimed to be one of the most credible, free and fair elections.
To many Nigerians, June 12th 1993 represented electoral responsibility, it represented the image of a working, workable, transparent, free and fair electoral process of the 1990s. Years later, President Muhammadu Buhar went on the declare that Chief MKO Abiolo was the rightful winner of the June 12th 1993. The President went further to confer the highest National Title on the Late Chief MKO Abiola, despite despite the fact that he was never sworn in.
It was a good thing that President Buhari decided, and later assented to the bill to move Nigeria’s Democracy Day Celebration from May 29th, the date the military handed over to civil rule in 1999, to June 12th. His motives were largely good and the June 12th proposal came to stay as Nigeria’s New Democracy Day. The thoughts were not far from the fact that the Nigerian State did her citizens the greatest disfavour of denying them the opportunity of having a declared winner and a substantive Democratically Elected President in 1993. The President apologized to Nigerians, the Yoruba nation and the Family of Chief MKO Abiola for what happened.
However, Shifting Democracy Day Celebration to June 12th of every year without the commitment to institutionalize credible electoral reforms that would at least have a semblance of the credibility of the June 12th 1993 Electoral process is just mere semantics and rhetorics. The very first national elections that took place in 2019, months after shifting Nigeria’s Democracy Day Celebration date, various forms of electoral practices were recorded which were unbecoming of Nigeria. Nigerians came to know a new phrase “Inconclusive” as collation of votes came to conclusion. Electoral violence and other forms of malpractices were reported to have taken place in areas where both the ruling party and the opposition controlled.
June 12th Democracy Day Celebration should go beyond press statements, reading of fancy speeches, vocal assurances and reassurances. The electoral system needs to be strengthened to produce good leaders that will be proactive in tackling National Challenges.
Audu Alex Yibeikas (aka Sankara) is a sociologist, public affairs commentator and a blogger. He writes from Jos. Contact: e-mail: Nigeriastarnews@gmail.com
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