June 12 changed Nigeria’s political history; it is a unique date – Jonathan

To many who had wondered why President Goodluck Jonathan did not make an official statement on the 20th anniversary of June 12, DailyPost can report that the Nigerian leader indeed recognised the day.

Jonathan spoke on the significance of the day, while speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the new chairman of Police Service Commission, Mr Mike Okiro, and five members of the Commission at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to him: “Today is also a unique day (June 12). It is a date that has changed the political history of this country in one way or the other. In some parts of the country, some state governments have declared public holiday to mark today, but at the centre it has not been formally recognised as a public holiday.

“We appreciate what happened on this day, that you are being inaugurated on this date. I think it is a unique date.

The June 12, 1993 presidential election, often described as the nation’s freest and fairest, was believed to have been won by late business mogul, Bashorun MKO Abiola.

It was annulled by the then Military Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, an action that triggered days of public unrest.

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