Make June 12 Presidential Inauguration Day, Panelists urge Tinubu

Some key players during the 1993 presidential election have called for a shift of Nigeria’s presidential inauguration day from May 29 to June 12.

The key players who were panelists at the 2023 Democracy Day celebration, organized by the Tinubu Support Group (TSG), made the call on Monday in Abuja.

Supreme reports that the event, which was held at the Unity Fountain, was tagged “Re-enacting the Significance of June 12 in Nigeria’s Democratic Journey”.

Among the key players were Sen. Jonathan Zwingina, who was the Director-General of the Abiola-Kingibe Presidential Campaign Organization in 1993, and Sen. Magnus Abe.

Chief MKO Abiola, a business magnet and a political stalwart was the Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) at the election while Babagana Kingibe was the party’s Vice-Presidential candidate.

The election which had been acclaimed to be the most credible, freest and fairest in Nigeria’s political history was later annulled by the Military Administration of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

Zwingina, however, said that credit should be given to President Bola Tinubu for his Democracy Day speech, adding that his words were most significant because it came from a president with foresight who identified what really transpired.

He said the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election and the honour bestowed on Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the election, showed that the country needed a strong and virile political institutions currently being built.

He described many of those who fought for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria after the annulment of the June 12 presidential election as committed patriots.

He said such individuals, including Tinubu, made the sacrifice in the interest of democracy and not for the late Abiola.

Sen. Tijjani Ibrahim, at the event, described Tosin Adeyanju, convener of the Patriots in Defense of Democracy, as one of the strongest and earliest young pillars that contributed immensely to Tinubu’s electoral victory.

He commended him for organizing the daily pre-inauguration hangout, which commenced on February 25, 2023, and ended on May 29, in solidarity with the mandate freely given by Nigerians to Tinubu.

Adeyanju had earlier said that the hangout was to let the world know that Tinubu really won the election.

He said the hangout was particularly aimed at redirecting the negative narratives about the presidential election and the emergence of Tinubu as president.