•Late Professor Humphrey Nwosu
A pro-Igbo pressure group, Ndi Igbo Intellectual & Cultural Development Organisation (NIDO), has described as double standard Nigeria’s continued celebration of June 12 as Democracy Day without giving due recognition to Professor Humphrey Nwosu, the former Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), who conducted the 1993 presidential election widely regarded as the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history.
In a statement released today and signed by its Director of Communications and Information, Dr. Christian Afulike, NIDO decried what it called “a grave injustice” to honour Chief Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12 election, while ignoring the contributions of the man who midwifed the credible process.
The group called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently correct this injustice by naming a national monument or edifice after Professor Nwosu as a lasting tribute to his invaluable role in advancing Nigeria’s democratic journey, reports Vanguard.
“It reeks of double standards to celebrate the outcome of the June 12, 1993 election while pretending to forget the umpire who courageously and meticulously supervised the process,” the statement said.
NIDO described the lack of recognition for Nwosu as a major factor in the declining credibility of Nigeria’s electoral system. The group lamented that successive governments have failed to honour the legacy of the man who introduced the Option A4 voting system, which formed the basis of the 1993 electoral success.
“Late Prof. Humphrey Nwosu’s indelible contributions to Nigeria’s electoral process seem to have been deliberately forgotten by a nation that often celebrates mediocrity. This failure to honour him is part of the reason for the poor performance of subsequent electoral umpires and the worsening credibility of our elections,” NIDO stated.
The group emphasised that recognising Professor Nwosu would serve not only as an act of justice but also as motivation for present and future electoral officials to act with courage and integrity.
“We therefore call on President Tinubu to name a befitting national democratic institution or monument after Prof. Nwosu. This gesture would inspire electoral integrity and strengthen our democracy beyond mere electoral reforms.”
NIDO further urged the Anambra State Government, Nwosu’s home state, to take similar steps by naming a major state facility after him.
The statement, titled “Erasing the Double Standard of the Nigerian Government”, acknowledged the symbolic milestone of 24 years of unbroken democracy in Nigeria. It praised the recognition given by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who officially declared June 12 as Democracy Day in 2018 in honour of Abiola’s struggle.
However, NIDO argued that a complete historical account must include all the key players, particularly Professor Nwosu, who made the success of that election possible.
“It is disingenuous to honour only the winner and victims of the annulment while ignoring the person who conducted what is still acknowledged as the most credible election in Nigeria. This is a disservice to history, democracy, and justice.”
As Nigeria marks Democracy Day on June 12, NIDO called for sober reflection on both the gains and failures of Nigeria’s democratic experiment. It urged the government to fix the electoral process to restore public confidence and truly honour those who sacrificed for democratic governance.
