The Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA),? Dr AbduLateef Adegbite, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to release officially the result of June 12, 1993 presidential election and announce Chief MKO Abiola posthumously as the elected president.
In a statement he signed, Adegbite lamented that Nigerian authorities had yet to accord due recognition to that historic day.
“I, therefore, humbly urge President Goodluck Jonathan, whose election as president last year was the closest in cleanliness to that of MKO Abiola’s election of June 12 1993, to kill several birds with one stone, by taking the following actions:
“ Release officially the result of the presidential election of June 12, 1993 and declare Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the election.
“Confer posthumously on MKO Abiola all the honours due to an elected President of Nigeria, including the award of the National Honour of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).
“ Declare June 12 of every year, MKO Abiola Day, which shall be observed as? national holiday. It will replace May 29 as Democracy Day.
Adegbite said the gesture would be compared to the one extended to Dr Martin Luther King Jnr in the U.S.
“The above recognition proposed for MKO Abiola is without prejudice to the naming of certain public Institutions in his honour such as the University of Lagos (Unilag) and Abuja National Stadium,’’he said.
Speaking in a similar vein, Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye called on the Federal Government to name Aso Rock Villa Abuja, after the late Abiola and also declare June 12 a national holiday.
Akinfeleye, Head of Mass Communication Department, Unilag, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in Lagos that June 12 should be declared Democracy Day and not May 29, as been celebrated by the Federal Government.
He said that the renaming of Unilag should not be part of the arrangement.
“The Federal Government should name Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, and not University of Lagos after the late politician who sacrificed his life for Nigeria’s democracy.
“We want the Federal Government to delete Unilag from the arrangement.? Abiola deserved to be honoured appropriately,” he said.?
Dr Nasir Fagge, immediate past Vice-President, Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) also told NAN that the National Assembly should organise a public hearing on June 12, 1993.
Fagge said that the June 12 election was a landmark victory for Nigeria’s democracy.
He said that the public hearing would give Nigerians the opportunity to deliberate and agree on the way forward.
“There is need to go back on what transpired on June 12, 1993 election, how successful it was and the correction to be made.
“I am confident that Nigerians will be able to advise the government and decide on how to honour the late acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election,“ he said.
He added that ASUU was not interested in how the Federal government honour Abiola, but in the adequate funding of universities. ?
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