Leaders
of the hometown of the late winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election,
Moshood Abiola, have called for 14 extra days in office for President Muhammadu
Buhari so that future inauguration of the Nigerian President will coincide with
June 12.
The inauguration day has been May 29 since 1999
when Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in as the first president of Nigeria’s Fourth
Republic.
But the traditional ruler of Gbagura in Ogun
State, Halidu Laloko, at a press conference on Monday said it has become necessary
to shift the handover date forward by two weeks “to properly actualise the June
12, 1993 annulment date and immortalise MKO Abiola who sacrificed his life
because of Nigerian Democracy.”
The Federal Government last week announced a
posthumous conferment of the highest national honour of Grand Commander Federal
Republic of Nigeria (GCFR) on Mr Abiola and declared June 12 the new Democracy
Day instead of May 29.
The National Assembly supported the
pronouncement with a resolution asking the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to declare Mr Abiola winner of the annulled June 12, 1993
presidential poll.
In addition, the lawmakers asked the Federal
Government to declare Mr Abiola an ex-president and pay all the entitlements
due to a former president to his family.
The Gbagura monarch, who was represented at the
press conference by Adio Baiyewun, the Balogun of Ojoo-Gbagura, lauded
President Buhari and the National Assembly for their decisions.
He said his people were happy that truth had
triumphed over injustice in the Abiola saga.
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