By RAZAQ BAMIDELE
National President of a human rights and principal pro-democracy and anti- Corruption outfit the Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTAS), Comrade Moshood Erubami, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his bravery and patriotism in reversing the years of injustices that are inherent in the evil annulment of the June 12 1993.Presidential Election.
Erubami, in a statement dedicated to June 12 lamented that the annulment which had been on for 26 years was not considered for de-annulment by all governments that came to power after it, until recently, when President Buhari did the needful.
According to him, the President must have recounted in a semblance of showing regards for the overwhelming victory of the Principal, Chief Mko Abiola and the various Principles that accompanied the election when taking the step.
Erubami, who described President Buhari as a great leader, commended his bravery as a true leader and proffered further ways of giving complete recognition to the Principal of June 12, Chief MKO Abiola so as to build a new Nigeria on the Principles inherent in the June 12 election namely that of Unity, fairness, equity and electoral legitimacy.
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June 12 celebration as a Democracy Day will become historically symbolic on June 12, 2019, it will be Twenty-six years after the late Chief Moshood Abiola won the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election after which he was arrested and detained, paid the supreme price by dying as a martyr for democracy and has largely remained unsung.
The Group reiterate that to give the country a new direction, the best way to fully immortalise Chief MKO Abiola in the context of the new change mantra under President Buhari is to ensure that the principles inherent in June 12 presidential election manifest and reaffirmed in the changes to be driven by the APC.
The group therefore re stated that Chief Abiola helped to lay the foundation for the current democratic dispensation adding that without the sacrifice made by Abiola there would be no democracy in this country today from which all political office holders are today’s beneficiaries of Abiola’s sacrifice.
The Election of President Buhari too, Erubami said, was also a gain from the sacrifice made by Abiola who taught Nigerians as the rightful symbol of democracy that politics and democracy is worth living and dying for.
Beyond the tokenistic arrangement being prepared by the Federal Government to celebrate the day, the group maintained that:
“In the spirit of reconciliation, the Buhari administration should organize a special posthumous installation ceremony where the late Abiola would be officially recognized as a former President, in conjunction with the family of the late Abiola and members of the human rights and pro-democracy community that fought gallantly for the de-annulment of that election and it should be witnessed by all governors of the states and other guests from across the nation and the World to be telecast live on televisions and radio stations.
“Beyond the posthumous National Honour and Award already granted to Chief MKO Abiola by President Buhari, he must also be officially pronounced as the winner of that election.
“All honours and process of immortalisation of the late Chief Abiola should start from his recognition as a winner in that election by the Buhari administration because his election victory in 2015 was a reincarnation of the principle of oneness of Nigerians as manifested during the June 12, 1993 election.”
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“Erubami the Group Leader added: “This should be followed by the inclusion of his names and photographs in the list of former Heads of States that have been in power in Nigeria maintaining that the attempt to rename the University of Lagos after Abiola without legal backup by former President Jonathan was a mere smokescreen and called on the administration of President Buhari to renew efforts to assert the renaming of the university, as well as the National Stadium in Abuja after him.
“In addition, the suggested Centre for Democratic Studies whenever it is established and wherever it is located should also be named after him to demonstrate we have learnt from the lessons inherent in June 12,” he added.
“The democratic institutions like the National Assembly complex or the Court of Appeal complex should also be considered to further give adequate compensation for the life he lost with that of his loving wife, Kudirat Abiola.
“Patriots like the late Pa Adekunle Ajasin, the late Pa Alfred Rewane, the late Pa Anthony Enahoro, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the late Dr. Beko Ransome Kuti, the late Prof. Olikoye Ransome Kuti, the late Comrade Ola Oni, the late Comrade Chima Ubani, the late Baba Omojola should also be immortalised on the day of the posthumous award, as people who have worked and died for democracy.”
