The National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Bola Tinubu, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for taking steps to fully recognise June 12 as Democracy Day in the country.
Tinubu, who gave the commendation the in a statement released by his Media Adviser, Mr. Tunde Rahman, on Tuesday in Lagos urged the National Assembly to cooperate with the Presidency to complete the constitutional process of making June 12 Democracy Day.
“To complete this process, that the president has started via Executive Order, we hope that the National Assembly act with reasonable dispatch in cooperation with the Presidency to assure that the requisite constitutional amendments are enacted to fully establish June 12 as Democracy Day,” Tinubu said.
The Federal Government had announced that President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration for a second term on May 29 will be low-key and that a number of events slated for the inauguration will be held on June 12.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the announcement when he spoke to State House correspondents on the activities slated to mark the May 29 inauguration.
Buhari had in June last year, directed that from this year, Nigeria’s Democracy Day, marked every May 29 for the past 18 years, be shifted to June 12, to honour the Late Chief Moshood Abiola.
Abiola was the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the results of which were annulled by former military ruler Gen. Ibrahim Babangida on June 23, 1993.
The minister said the decision to have a low-key inauguration for the president was taken at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council on May 8.
He said, however, that invitations had been sent to world leaders to attend the ceremonies, marking the observance of Democracy Day on June 12.
“Since the first observance of June 12 as Democracy Day falls into an election year and as a measure to sustain June 12 as Democracy Day, the celebration of the inauguration and the advancement of democracy in the country will now take place on June 12,’’ the minister had said.
Tinubu said President Buhari and the Federal Government deserved to be appreciated for the wise and visionary decision.
Tinubu said that June 12 represented an important milestone in the annals of the country’s democratic journey.
According to him, it was the day Nigerians shunned ethnicity and religion to vote for that leader of their choice in an election adjudged clearly free and fair.
He urged Nigerians to rededicate themselves to democracy, peaceful co-existence, togetherness and the hope for a greater future, saying “that is what June 12 represents”.
It will be recalled that on June 12, 2018, President Buhari awarded the late Bahorun MKO Abiola the highest honour in the land, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), while his running mate in the election, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, was also bestowed with the Grand Commander Of the Niger (GCON) award.
MM/GIK/APA