#June 12: Lagos, Oyo, Osun declare Friday public holiday

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Thursday declared Friday, June 12, as a work free day in commemoration of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was presumed to have been won by the late business mogul, Chief Moshood Abiola.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Habib Aruna, stated that Ambode said the date marked a watershed in the annals of transparent, free and fair elections in the country.

Oyo and Osun states have also declared Friday as public holidays in commemoration of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.

The Lagos State governor noted that June 12, 1993 was the day Nigerians voted in one voice across ethnic, racial and religious lines, added that it represented the real democracy day when Nigerians said ‘No’ to voting along ethnic lines.

Ambode said, “Regrettably, 22 years after the annulment, the Nigerian nation is still grappling with some of the vices which the June 12, 1993 election sought to confine to the dust bin of history through undue clinging to ethnic cleavages by some political gladiators.”

The governor urged residents to “spend the day in sober reflection and in remembrance of the martyrs of the June 12 election struggle in prayers for laying the foundation of the democracy which the nation now enjoys.”