Osun, Ogun And Oyo States Joins Lagos To Declare 12 June Public Holiday

In a bid to commemorate the annulment of the
June 12,1993 elections, the Lagos State
Government has declared Friday, June 12 as a
work-free day.
The Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode in a statement
signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the
Governor, Mr Habib Aruna, on Thursday, stated
that the date marked a turning point that shaped
the eventual emergence of transparent, free and
fair elections in the country.
According to Ambode, June 12, 1993 was the day
Nigerians voted in one voice without ethnic, racial
and religious bias, saying it represented the real
democracy day when Nigerians said no to voting
along ethnic lines.
The Governor however stated that it was saddening
that the nation was still grappling with some of the
vices which the June 12, 1993 elections sought to
confine to the dustbin of history through undue
clinging to ethnic cleavages by some political
gladiators.
He urged Lagos residents to spend the day in sober
reflection and in remembrance of the martyrs of
the June 12 elections struggle for laying the
foundation of the democracy which the nation is
now enjoying.
In the same vein, the states of Oyo, Osun and
Ogun, have declared June 12 a work free day.
In a statement in Ibadan, Festus Adedayo, the
Special Adviser to Oyo State Governor on Media,
said the state’s decision to mark the 20th
anniversary of the infamous polls was in a bid to
recognise the martyrdom of the late Moshood
Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the election.
It said Mr. Abiola ought to be honoured for laying
down his life for Nigerians to enjoy democratic
governance.
Similarly, the Commissioner for Information in
Osun, Sunday Akere, said in a statement in Osogbo
that the holiday was to recognise when an election
adjudged the freest and fairest in Nigeria was
annulled.
Mr. Akere said that June 12 would continue to
stand for democracy and good government and as
such nothing was too much to honour the day.
Ogun State had on Sunday also declared June 12 a
public holiday.
lalasticlala, Ishilove