The
Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria says on Monday
that the price paid by the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993
presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, was a sacrifice to ensure the
dawn of the present democracy in Nigeria and should be celebrated.
In
a statement by its state Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the party
insisted that Nigeria still owed monumental debts to Abiola for the
manner he stood against the military, which ultimately led to the ouster
of military rule in1999.
The party urged the Federal Government to name the country’s seat of power, Aso Rock, after Abiola for his sacrifice for democracy in Nigeria.
The ACN said, “We remember that on that historical election, Nigerians forsook the dividing factors of religion, tribe and tongue to vote massively for Chief MKO Abiola in an election that is yet to be rivaled in its credibility and pan-Nigerian nature.
“The June 12 election has since survived to give a poignant picture of the desire of Nigerian people to live together, under a competent leadership trusted to bring about the rapid development and progress of the much abused country and her people.”
The party expressed dismay that 19 years after the June 12 election, democracy was still being operated by forces that never believed in it.
It said, “When we notice the serial abuses, cases of impunity, corruption, vice, avarice and greed that now disfigure and misrepresent democracy before Nigerians, we feel sad that Abiola was sacrificed and rouges are luxuriating at the expense of the Nigerian people for whom he fought and died.
“We call on the present government to heed the voice of reason by naming Aso Rock after Abiola for the major role he played in instituting the present democracy. We equally call on the federal government to declare June 12 the real and authentic Democracy Day.”
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