On June 12, 1993, Nigeria held a presidential election which was internationally accepted as the best in the nation’s history. But the government of the day turned it into pyrrhic victory for the winner of the polls. The election has however remained significant because none other, either before or after it has come close by way of popular acceptance. Chief M.K.O. Abiola the candidate of the Social Democratic Party SDP that won the election was not only stopped from assuming office but was arrested and detained till he died in captivity. The ghost of June 12 continued to haunt Nigeria until 2018 when former President Muhammadu Buhari formally accepted Abiola as the winner of the election and posthumously awarded him Nigeria’s highest honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic GCFR.
It is instructive that former President Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) whose government could not conclude the June 12 election agreed some 3 decades later that the election was won by Chief Abiola. At a book launch in 2025, Babangida reversed the previous position of his government which declined to recognize Abiola’s victory. By commending President Buhari for honouring Abiola, IBB’s new position has no doubt clarified the old doubts which created the crisis of 1993. Last week’s anniversary of June 12 therefore offered greater impetus for many Nigerians to eulogise it as the precursor of sustainable democracy in the country. As usual, the day was declared a public holiday to enable citizens mark it as their democracy day.
An official government statement by the Interior Minister, Tunji Olubunmi Ojo called on Nigerians to observe the holiday as an opportunity for civic reflection, urging citizens to recommit to lawful conduct, responsible engagement and national unity because in the minister’s words, “the strength of any democracy lies ultimately in the character of its citizens.” Ojo’s statement which was food for thought capable of putting the nation on the right path if adhered to. While some citizens held group discussions to restate the ideals of June 12, those of us who were specifically involved in the conduct of the polls were left to once again regret the pains caused us and the nation.
Personally, I have remained emotionally attached to June 12 because as Director of Public Affairs of the electoral body which conducted the election, I was the official spokesperson of the commission. It was my duty to publicise all election results announced by the electoral body. I had arranged to among other things display results as they arrived from different parts of the country on the large Bill Board mounted in front of our headquarters in Abuja making it unnecessary for citizens to be searching for the results. Far into the assignments, I was directed to stop the display of results already collated and approved. Considering that an unofficial winner of the polls had become obvious at the point I was asked to halt further display of the results, I developed a sense of loss which was never redressed.
Indeed, other events made it clearer by the minute that we were approaching a national crisis. If we fast forward to today, the sense of loss has subsisted because the political culture of Nigeria has continued to renew my pains concerning politics and elections in the country. For example, there are many reports suggesting that we have judges like Bassey Ikpeme that are ready to deliver judgments which have the potentials to derail the electoral process. We just saw one who disregarded a subsisting Court of Appeal ruling because he already had a predetermined decision that counters that of a higher court. In 1993, when Justice Ikpeme placed the conduct of the June 12 election on hold in breach of the enabling law, we thought we had seen the height of judicial rascality.
Since 1993, it is not only that many more Ikpemes have emerged, we have even had cases where judicial decisions at the highest level ignored INEC figures only to declare a winner who at the end of the day had more votes than voters. This could not have happened in our days because our arrangement was for election winners to be determined by voters and not by judges. The new system which opens our political system to the possibility of using the judiciary to win elections may have to be reviewed. Those who want the system retained in view of the fact that only a few judges are responsible for the current malaise, must urge the judiciary to be more drastic with its few bad eggs who give us a reminder of some poor aspects of June 12.
The electoral body which conducted the June 12 1993 was simply called the National Electoral Commission NEC, without the term ‘independent’ added to its title. Interestingly, it has since become obvious that it is our new electoral body proclaimed as independent and embedded in its title that is not independent. Today’s INEC cannot be independent because many of its officials in breach of the constitution are card carrying members of political parties whose main objective is to rig elections in favour of their political party. For as long as this is allowed to stay, Nigeria cannot meet the standard set by the June 12 election conducted by non-partisan persons of proven integrity. One is reminded of our great team each time we hear of rouge electoral officials that are these days found everywhere.
In the last 33 years, no electoral body has been able to introduce sustainable reforms at INEC. We are still closing up the nation’s economy on voting days and announcing restrictions to movements which have never yielded positive results. Electoral technologies are still working according to the temperament of the officials and the environment. Under the law, INEC is expected to monitor political party events so as to create a conducive atmosphere for internal party democracy, yet the same INEC has a discretion to monitor or not to monitor party primaries. In addition, there have been cases where INEC has been directed by courts to accept results of primaries which she did not monitor. What positive results can be achieved through such trial-and-error system?
Perhaps, Nigeria’s greatest problem lies in the fact that our politicians have retained the same unwholesome political culture which they developed in the nation’s previous republics. Based on it, no Nigerian politician or political party works diligently to win an election. Instead, they all strategize to rig the process and overwhelm their opponents. They have financial subheads voted to compromise security officials, media professionals, INEC staff and judges. They adopt the same approach even in their strongholds because the belief is that the enemy may have polluted the area. As a result, there are no real elections in our clime. Once the relevant officials are compromised, it becomes difficult to have a credible process. Indeed, it also becomes virtually impossible to find even the doctored results with which declarations of winners were made.
Against the backdrop, there is no need to be surprised to see politicians who are willing to counter even their own victory if appropriately compromised. This was an aspect of the June 12 election which made it possible for the government to annul the exercise. What happened was that even officials of the SDP that won the election supported the military to cancel an election that was applauded worldwide. Some of them including the leadership of the party that are today described as pro-June 12 activists became ministers in the new military government that came on board. The situation today is more worrisome as we now have supposed winners of an election who while in office would defect to a party that the voters rejected at the polls. At that point, the focus is the next election even though the previous mandate is yet to expire.
Abuses recorded at the recently conducted party primaries did not shock me; they only reminded me of what the political class expected of the late Professor Humphrey Nwosu who led the team that conducted the June 12, 1993 election. Following his demise about a year and a half ago, some Nigerians called on government to honour that architect of June 12. A few senators explained the senate’s objection to the proposal. One of the senators said if Nwosu had announced the results promptly there would have been no crisis which led to the death of some of his own relations at the time. Our own expectation now is for no deaths to be recorded despite the fact that our political class, after one month, is yet to summon enough courage to announce the results of ordinary party primaries characterised by monkey-counting. How can I forget June 12?
