June 21, 2026
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.
