Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said that Democracy Day in Nigeria should be celebrated on June 12 and not May 29.
The Governor stated this in his address marking the 23rd anniversary
of the annulled June 12, 1993 election, which was believed to have been
won by the late Chief MKO Abiola.
Aregbesola said that June 12, 1993, was the day Nigerians put aside
their ethnic and religious differences and united to vote MKO as their
leader, which unequivocally affirmed the unity of the country.
He said May 29 only symbolises the day the military handed over the
affairs of the country to a democratically elected government, noting
that Nigerians and lovers of democracy would remain committed to June 12
as a political watershed in the annals of the nation.
The Governor however said that since MKO’s election was annulled 23
years ago, it took Nigerians another 16 years to choose a leader that
would take them to the Promised Land in person of President Muhammadu
Buhari.
Aregbesola said: “We will never drop our commitment to June 12.
Nigerians, in their heterogeneity, on June 12, 1993, voted for Chief
Abiola in a pattern that defied ethnicity, religion, ideology and local.
“It was a pattern that made mockery of the fabled fault-lines and
fissiparous tendencies of the Nigerian federation and projected a nation
united behind a popular leader.
“May 29, in 1999, was the date the military handed over power to
civilian administration and will remain symbolic for the transition to
civil rule and the opportunity it presents for realising a truly
democratic government that approximates the yearnings and aspirations of
the people for a leader that will lead them to the Promised Land of
security and life more abundant.
“We waited for 16 years for that leadership to emerge and we thank
God for the election and coming to power of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“A government with a human face is here at last. He represents the
aspirations and symbolism of June 12 in that he also got a pan-Nigerian
mandate that once again defied the divisions in our country.
“He represents hope for change and national rebirth. He is on that path. God willing, he will lead us to the Promised Land”.
