Abuja: A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Adeola Adedipe has advised Nigerians to always use the June 12, 1993 electoral incident as a serious lesson to upholding the sanctity of democratic principles. Adedipe said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, while commenting on the 2026 occasion of the June 12 Democracy Day.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Adedipe highlighted the importance of democracy as the best system of government, emphasizing its alignment with the postulations of foremost political philosopher, Thomas Paine. He articulated that Paine opined the right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected, and taking away this right is akin to reducing a man to slavery.
Adedipe stated that Paine’s philosophy finds its most vivid example in the events of June 12, 1993, in Nigeria. He recalled how Nigerians, typically divided along diverse lines, united as one nation to vote in the presidential election that year. Domestic and international observers alike deemed the election the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s post-independence history, but it was annulled 11 days later.
With that annulment, Adedipe noted, the primary right Paine spoke of was taken away, igniting an intense pro-democracy struggle that ultimately compelled a return to democratic governance. He emphasized that the sovereign will of the people is acknowledged in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which states that sovereignty belongs to the people from whom the government derives all its powers and authority.
Adedipe commended the recognition of June 12 as Democracy Day in 2018, calling it a necessary act of national reparation. He stressed that the lessons of June 12 are not confined to the past but serve as a standing charge upon present and future generations. Every election in Nigeria, he argued, measures against the standard set on June 12.
The Senior Advocate also mentioned that judicial pronouncements on electoral disputes either vindicate or diminish the principles for which Nigerians stood in 1993. He honored those who paid the ultimate price for democracy, affirming that their conviction forms the foundation upon which the republic stands and must continue to be upheld.
NAN recalls that the June 12, 1993 election was presumed to have been won by MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party against Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention. The collation of results was halted and ultimately annulled by the military administration led by retired Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.