The burden of June 12, 1993 poll on Nigeria’s future elections

“We recognise that an error has been committed. We will no longer tolerate such perversion of justice. This honour is for the grievous injustice done to the country. It is meant to assist at healing the wounds and building national reconciliation of the 25 years of wounds caused by the annulment. I earnestly urge Nigerians to accept it in good faith and bury the past of June 12.”

-  President Muhammadu Buhari while honouring Chief MKO Abiola with posthumous national honour of GCFR on June 12, 2018.

Like a bolt from the blue, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 pleasantly surprised the pro-democracy movement when he issued a press statement changing Nigeria’s Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12 starting from 2019. He did not stop at that, he also tacitly recognised the un-inaugurated Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola’s presidency by conferring the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic on the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential poll which was annulled by the military junta led by Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida on June 23, 1993. Also honoured with second highest national award of Grand Commander of the Order of Nigeria is Abiola’s running mate, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe as well as the fiery human rights legal luminary, Chief Gani Fawehinmi of blessed memory.

The award ceremony was held on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. At the colourful event which has in attendance political office holders from the aborted Third Republic, pro-democracy activists such as Nobel Laureate. Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana, SAN, Ms. Ayo Obe, family members of late MKO Abiola, those of late Gani Fawehinmi as well as serving political officers in  this Fourth Republic, the president tendered apologies to the family of late Abiola as well as victims of the June 12 struggle. A minute silence was also observed in honour of Abiola, Gani and other martyrs of June 12 struggle.

Since that news broke, I have had the privilege of discussing it on several news channels. These are Arise TV, Kiss 99.9 FM, Nigerian Television Authority, Radio Nigeria, Independent Television, Invicta 98.9 FM, Silverbird Television, The Sun newspaper and Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State. I have not only discussed it in English language but also in Pidgin and Yoruba languages. The questions I was repeatedly asked were the implication of this decision on Nigeria’s democracy, whether it was politically motivated, and how that decision will rub off on future elections in Nigeria.

I was an undergraduate student of University of Lagos in 1993 and though I could not remember voting in that election, I was deeply involved in the struggle to validate the election as University students particularly in South West Nigeria joined the Labour Unions and Non-Governmental Organisations to demonstrate for the reversal of the annulment of the election.

I am not unaware of the controversies that have greeted the PMB recognition of June 12 as our deserved Democracy Day as well as the posthumous recognition of Abiola and Gani, more so as legal opinion has earlier been offered that only the living can be bestowed with those national honours when similar advocacy was made for late Dr Stella Adadevoh who sacrificed her life for Nigeria in the fight against Ebola Virus some years ago. There was also the issue of legality of change in date for Democracy Day which had for 19 years been held on May 29.

Legal opinions differ on this matter and I’ve read and listened to many of them. However, news report on June 13, 2018 said the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has clarified that the Public Holidays Act will soon be amended to accommodate the declaration of June 12 as public holiday. He was quoted as saying: “So, when the Act has been fully amended, the declaration of the President will come into effect. It is a declaration of intention, a declaration of desire and that will eventually be given effect with the act of amendment of the existing law.” This ordinarily should lay to rest the lingering controversies about propriety or otherwise of the president’s action of moving Nigeria’s Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12. However, I have a feeling that someone somewhere will go to court to seek interpretations of the National Honours Act as well as Public Holidays Act as it affects this step taken by PMB. As far as am concerned, that will be salutary to our jurisprudence and help deepen our democracy.

As some analysts have rightly observed, May 29 may remain hand over date until a possible constitutional amendment is done to move it to June 12. As to whether the move by the president to validate and venerate June 12, 1993 presidential election is politically motivated, it will seem so. Given that 2019 General Election is due in about nine months’ time, it is a masterstroke by President Buhari do something heartwarming for South West Nigeria. There is no crime to this. Politicians are known to explore and exploit opportunities to give them edge at the polls.

It would be recalled that ex-Preisdnet Goodluck Jonathan had in 2012 attempted to honour Aare MKO Abiola by renaming University of Lagos after the astute politician and business mogul. This was resisted for two major reasons. First, the Yoruba race preferred a national monument outside of the South West geo-political zone be named after Abiola. This was deserving considering his immense contribution to sports, commerce and industry as well as philanthropy. Secondly, neither the Council nor Senate of University of Lagos was consulted before that decision was made.  

Let me recap few things about June 12, 1993 presidential election. That was a poll like no other. It was an election contested only by two political parties. That was an era when military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida proclaimed two political parties into existence. They were National Republican Convention and the Social Democratic Party. These two parties were fully funded by the then military regime because they don’t want them to be hijacked by moneybags. In fact, government built all their party offices in all the Local Government Areas, States and the Federal Capital Territory.

That election was also conducted using a unique voting system named Option A4. This is an open balloting system where electorate queue behind the candidates or their posters at the Polling Units. Some people are calling for the reintroduction of this voting system which as an election expert I will not subscribe to. This is because it makes the voters to be prone to molestation, harassment and violence as there is no secrecy of ballot. On that day, SDP, the party under which MKO Abiola contested the presidential election took a big gamble by fielding a Muslim presidential candidate and a Muslim Vice Presidential candidate. Surprisingly, it paid off for the party as the voters shunned primordial ethno-religious sentiments and voted across Nigeria for the SDP candidate. According to the Polling Unit collated results by the Polling Officials and SDP party agents, MKO won a pan-Nigeria mandate even defeating the NRC candidate, Alhaji Bashir Tofa in his home state of Kano. The election was adjudged as the freest, fairest and most peaceful election in Nigeria’s democratic history.

Two institutions played ignominious role in the truncation of the June 12 election. They are the judiciary and the military. While some judges gave dubious court injunctions stopping the conduct of the election, the military junta headed by Babangida annulled the election. This led to nationwide protests which eventually forced the military to leave governance six years after – in 1999. Hundreds of lives including that of Abiola and his wife, Kudirat were lost in the sustained protests against the military over the annulment.

Though the military eventually returned power to civilian on May 29, 1999, part of the positive fall out of the struggle for the validation of June 12 was the growth in the number of non-governmental organisations working in the area of Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance.

I joined all well-meaning Nigerians to task the federal government to officially release the results of the June 12, 1999 presidential election, officially recognise  MKO Abiola as the winner, pay all his entitlements and name a national monument in his honour. I suggest the Aso Rock Presidential Villa. I also recommend that the Three Arm Zone in Abuja should be renamed June 12 Zone. In addition, I will want all the leaders of the struggle for the validation of the June 12 election, living or dead, including Prof. Humphrey Nwosu who was the chairman of National Electoral Commission be given national honours. In truth, without June 12 struggle we may not have had this Fourth Republic.Also, it will be most appropriate to have a curriculum developed on the June 12, 1993 elections and its values of tolerance, electoral integrity and unity in diversity. This should be thought in our Primary and Secondary Schools as part of Civics, History or Government.

The greatest burden June 12, 1993 election has placed on Nigeria’s future elections is the need to have better polls  than that. At present, Nigeria’s elections face challenges of lack of internal party democracy, electoral violence, vote trading, hate speech, and logistical nightmare. At the Media and Civil Society Organisation roundtable organised by the Transition Monitoring Group in Lagos on Monday, June 11, 2018, these were some of the things we tried to find lasting solutions to. The keynote Speaker was the legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana.

As I noted in my published interview with The Sun newspaper on Sunday, June 10, 2018; beyond the recognition and national honour, the spirit of June 12 demands that we do everything to ensure that going forward, our elections are of international standards - free, fair and credible. That should start from forthcoming July 14 governorship poll in Ekiti State and September 22 governorship election in Osun State before we talk of 2019 general elections. That is when we will know that the All Progressives Congress and indeed President Buhari did not do this out of hypocrisy or mischief, but actually believe in the spirit of June 12.

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