Late Chief MKO Abiola was “the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.” The election was annulled by the then military ruler of Nigeria, President Badamosi Babangida. Nonetheless, to many, the election is still considered to be the most free and fairest election in contemporary Nigerian history. In fact, since the annulment, various pro-democracy groups and Nigerians have been clamoring for government’s recognition of Chief Abiola’s mandate.
On June 6, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that May 29, 2018, would be the last Democracy Day to be celebrated that day. Instead, he noted that starting from 2019, June 12 will become Democracy Day.
Seeing that this decision was made few months away from the 2019 elections, many Nigerians believe Mr. Buhari’s decision was made based on political permutations. One of the arguments made by skeptics is that he hopes to use his declaration to bait the support of voters in the South Western states of Nigeria. The late Chief Abiola was from one of those states, Ogun.
In this cartoon, Awosiyan Segun reflects on the possible rationale behind Mr. Buhari’s decision and the biased thinking of the skeptics. According to Awosiyan, not honoring the late Chief “for 16 years was never seen as POLITICS! It is now POLITICS!” (Emphasis is included by the cartoonist.)