The Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the flagbearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election and a former Governor of Lagos State, has said that as the country marks this year's Democracy Day, the spirit of June 12 would expand to become the spirit of Nigeria and national greatness of their dreams. He said Nigerians should remember and honor June 12 because the election in 1993 remains one of the best elections Nigeria has seen.
DAILY POST reports that Tinubu said: "Just like democracy finally won against dictatorship, I know that prosperity shall overcome poverty, peace shall outlast violence, compassion will conquer hatred, and good shall defeat evil.
"Justice, security, and economic development shall visit and reside in every hamlet, household, village, and city in our nation."
"The spirit of June 12 shall expand to become the spirit of Nigeria and our national greatness and destiny.
"My prayer, on this day, is that people from all walks of life and all parts of the country unite to build a more industrious and peaceful society such that all Nigerians may enjoy a greater future."
Tinubu added that Nigerians should never treat this day as just another holiday on the yearly calendar.
He says, "we must remember why June 12 is Democracy Day and why all Nigerians should honor it."
Tinubu noted that the June 12, 1993 election would remain the freest and fairest election Nigeria had experienced up to that moment, and it yet remains one of the best elections the nation had seen.
It is a recent history of Nigeria and common knowledge among all Nigerians that Major General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) annulled an election result that would have made Chief MKO Abiola a duly elected president of the 3rd republic of Nigeria.
On December 31, 1983, when the army removed President Shehu Shagari from power to give way for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Abacha announced the power takeover. He also co-announced the coming of the Babangida regime with Gen. Joshua Dogoyaro, and in that regime, he served as the chief of the army staff.
IBB came to power on August 27 1985, through a palace coup that ousted Major General Muhammadu Buhari. The coup was sustained on the promise that the government would yield to democracy. In January 1986, Babangida and his Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) initiated a transition process for the return to civilian rule, setting October 1990 as the date for this return. A decree in 1987 established the National Electoral Commission to oversee the electoral process. The IBB government also established the Political Bureau, under the chairmanship of Professor Sam Cookey, to proffer advice on this transition. The Bureau's 1987 report recommended facilitating political competition to bridge ethnic and religious divides in the country. Babangida shifted the date to 1992, stating its necessity for the transfer to civilian rule. Through Decree 25 of 1987, he banned politicians and public officials of the Second Republic from participating in political activities of the Third Republic; and In May 1989, Babangida lifted the ban on political parties.
The government continued to move the date of the civilian handover: at one time set for January 1993, and then August 27 1993. There are two types of electoral systems. Plurality voting is a system in which the candidate(s) with the highest number of votes wins, with no requirement to get a majority of votes. In cases where there is a single position to be filled, it is known as first-past-the-post; this is the second most common electoral system for national legislatures, with 58 countries using it to elect their legislatures, the vast majority of which are current or former British or American colonies or territories. It is also the second most common system used for presidential elections in 19 countries.
Nigerians elect on the federal level a head of state (the President of Nigeria) and a legislature (the National Assembly). The people elect the president. The National Assembly has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 360 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 109 members, elected for a four-year term. Each of the 36 states has three senatorial districts, represented by one senator. One senator represents the Federal Capital Territory.
Keeping the dream alive
When the long-anticipated Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on June 12 1993, the first since the 1983 military coup ended the country's Second Republic, the country shook with excitement and anticipation. The unofficial result of the election – though not declared by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) – indicated a victory for Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who defeated Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC. The election's winner was thus never declared as the elections were annulled by IBB, citing electoral irregularities. The annulment led to protests and political unrest, including the resignation of IBB and a weak interim civilian government. It culminated in the continuation of military rule in the country, with Sani Abacha ascending to power as the military head of state via a bloodless coup later in the year.
The annulment of Abiola's presidency, being a Yoruba, sparked violent protests in the southwest region. It is estimated that security forces killed over 100 people while quelling riots. The Igbo population in Lagos was also reported to have fled to the eastern region as the tension was palpable. There was international condemnation of the annulment: the United Kingdom, United States, and European Union suspended aid to Nigeria, and the Commonwealth condemned the annulment. The military government accused foreign governments of meddling in its affairs and attempting to destabilize the country. Former military rulers Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as ten other former generals – as part of the Association for Democracy and Good Governance – issued a joint statement demanding the removal of Babangida from power.
In the aftermath of the election, the government proscribed or shut down media houses and arrested journalists. The government issued decrees preventing court cases on the annulled election. NEC's activities were terminated.
There was another wave of civil unrest in the southwest, with banks and businesses shutting down. The Defense Council pressured Babangida to stick to the handover date, so he resigned on August 26. The country was ruled by an Interim National Government headed by Ernest Shonekan, with Sani Abacha, a confidant of Babangida, serving as Defence Minister. Shonekan set a date for another election in February 1994. However, his position was tenuous. He was named head of the government, but there was ambiguity on whether he also had command of the armed forces as its commander-in-chief. In early November 1993, a Lagos High Court ruled that the decree establishing the interim government was not adequately signed – it was signed by Babaginda after his removal from the presidency, thus making the government illegal. The interim government had to contend with a failing economy, debt and inflation rising, and the currency weakened. The World Bank ranked Nigeria as among the 20 poorest in the world.
Shonekan resumed talks with the IMF and World Bank to revive the economy and took the unpopular decision to remove subsidies on petroleum products, thereby raising the price by 700%. The Nigerian Labour Congress went on strike over the price increase. However, on November 17 1993, Abacha toppled the interim government in a palace coup. Abacha dissolved the legislature and the state and local governments and replaced the elected civilian state governors with military and police officers. He also banned all political activities. Abacha established two governing institutions - the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) and Federal Executive Council. Abacha's new cabinet was composed of civilian politicians, including Abiola's running mate Baba Gana Kingibe as Foreign Minister. Abacha proceeded to create a Constitutional Conference for a transition to civilian rule. The conference began on January 18 1994, though the government nominated one-third of the delegates for the conference, and the PRC could veto decisions of the conference.
Abiola was arrested and charged with treason in June 1994 after declaring himself president and commander-in-chief. Abiola's arrest led to protests and strikes by workers in the petroleum sector, banking sector, and academia for nine weeks. The strike by the petroleum sector paralyzed the economy. The Abacha government subsequently arrested union leaders and dismissed civilian members of his cabinet.
The government, in March 1995, announced an alleged coup attempt. Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, and Beko Ransome-Kuti were those secretly tried and either sentenced to death or received lengthy prison sentences. The backlash from the international community resulted in lesser penalties - Yar'dua's death penalty and Obasanjo's life sentence were reduced.
Abacha's government was marred with widespread human rights abuses. Nigeria was suspended from The Commonwealth after executing nine human rights activists during his regime. A ridiculously massive amount of money was stolen from Nigeria between the second and third republics, with the bulk of the atrocities well in the coffers of IBB and Abacha.
Abacha died before spending the stolen billions, and a few bank details served as clues as to where that money was stashed. "Contrary to insinuations, speculations, and sad rumors initiated by some sections of the society, I maintain that the sudden collapse of the health system of the late Head of State started the previous day (Sunday, June 7, 1998) right from the Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General Abacha)" - Al Mustapha Reveals: How 30 Generals Escaped Massacre …After Abacha's death
Mr. Enrico Monfrini, of Counsel, Asset recovery, anti-corruption, complex civil, criminal, and mutual assistance proceedings, international business law, a Swiss lawyer, hired to find Abacha's looted money, argued that the Abacha family and their associates formed a criminal organization. In October 1995, Abacha set a timeframe of three years to hand over power to a civilian government. Sani Abacha died on June 8, 1998; Abiola died a month later while in detention on July 7, 1998.
In 2018 Muhammadu Buhari, now a civilian president of Nigeria under the Fourth Republic, declared June 12 – the date of the annulled 1993 election as the new date for the celebration of Democracy Day. The previous Democracy Day was May 29, the date of the return to civilian rule in May 1999 following Abacha's regime.