June 12, (THEWILL) – Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, has urged Nigerians to draw their strength from the June 12, 1993 election, which led to the martyrdom of late Chief M.K.O Abiola, to come out en masse and cast their votes, in order to make 2023 election better for democracy to continue to thrive in the country.
Abiodun, who spoke on Sunday, at the June 12 Commemorative Anniversary and Nigeria’s Democracy Day, held at the M.K.O International Stadium, Abeokuta, the state capital, called on well meaning Nigerians to go and collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC), so as to vote eligibly in the next election.
He maintained that the struggles of June 12, as orchestrated by late MKO Abiola, gave birth to the seamless democracy being enjoyed by Nigerians for the past 29 years, noting that the best way to honour Abiola was to sustain and uphold the ideals and tenets of democracy that he and others stood and died for.
The governor, while advocating stringent punishment for violators due process in elections, declared that people’s ballots must count and be respected in 2023, said that the process to a free, fair and credible election begins, among other things, with voters’ participation in the registration exercise.
He divulged that for the 2023 general elections to be a huge success, every eligible Nigerian must register to vote and actually take part in voting on the day of election, stressing that if the ideals of June 12 matter to them, religion and ethnicity should not determine who becomes the leaders of the nation.
Abiodun said, “While it is heart-warming to note that in the last 29 years, we have enjoyed seamless civilian-to-civilian transition, it is only by upholding the tenets of democracy and ensuring its sustainability that we can truly honour the memory of those ideals that Chief MKO Abiola and others stood and died for.
“If the ideals matter to us, religion and ethnicity too should not become campaign issues or determinants of who gets what, when, how in our body-politic or become primary considerations in our leadership recruitment and governance processes.
“People’s ballots must count and be respected, while violators of due process in elections ought to be dealt the full wrath of the law. I can envision how these Nigerians who gave their all would be cringing in their graves, seeing us celebrating divisive vices and our do-or-die politicking”, he added.
The governor, therefore, called on political leaders and followers to keep hope and fair play alive in democracy, tasking them to fashion a way to ensure that will make democracy in Nigeria a means to an end, not an end in itself.
He further charged Nigerians to internalise democratic values and tenets of the late MKO Abiola and other heroes and heroines on democratic principles and practices.
Meanwhile, Abiodun also used the occasion of the June 12 democracy day to approve the committal of six convicts on death row to life imprisonment and also the released 40 inmates in the state.
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