…pays tribute to Afenifere leader, Adebanjo

Founder and pioneer National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has called on the Federal Government to immortalise late chairman of the then National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, by naming the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral omission (INEC) after him.

Nwosu, who conducted the June 12, 1993 election annulled by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, passed away in a US hospital on October 24, 2024, at the age of 83, and will be buried on March 28, in his home town, Ajali in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Okorie, in a statement, said It is sad that Prof. Nwosu, who was the most visible unsung hero of the much-celebrated June 12, 1993 presidential election as chairman of NEC, which later became INEC, was never considered for recognition until his death.

He recalled that while Nigerians commended former President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring June 12 as Democracy Day in the place of May 29 as well as affirmed late Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the June 12 presidential election, along with Alhaji Babagana Kingibe as his running mate, no mention was made of Prof. Nwosu.

His words: “Chief MKO Abiola and Alhaji Babagana Kingibe were accordingly honored with the requisite National Honors of Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) and Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), respectively. Regrettably, no mention was made of Prof. Humphrey Nwosu in the honours list for the historic June 12 election.

“Prof. Nwosu had long before President Buhari honoured the June 12 heros, written a book, where he gave account of the true outcome of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, including the figures scored by Chief MKO Abiola, who was the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Alhaji Bashir Tofa, the presidential candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), showing Chief Abiola’s resounding victory in that election.

“The undisputed fact is that there would be no June 12 celebration in Nigeria without Prof. Humphrey Nwosu. He stuck out his neck in the face of obvious threats to his life by a military junta determined to scuttle the election and announced the actual election results.

“This did not prevent General Ibrahim Babangida, the military president of Nigeria, from proceeding to annul the election. However, after more than three decades, General Babangida publicly presented his memoir in which he vindicated Prof. Humphrey Nwosu. He even boasted that it was under his watch that Nigeria had the fairest and freest presidential election. “Yet the architect of this unprecedented national feat remained unsung.

The big question is, when will Nigeria have the good fortune to have the likes of Prof. Humphrey Nwosu to preside over our Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) again?” Noting that Buhari has done his own bit by giving Nigeria a more acceptable Democracy Day, which is June 12, and honored late MKO Abiola as former president, Okorie said it now behoves on President Bola Tinubu to give Prof. Nwosu a befitting national honour.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has done his own bit by giving Nigeria a more acceptable Democracy Day, which is June 12, and honored late MKO Abiola as former president and a posthumous award of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR). The ball is now in the court of President Bola Tinubu to give Prof. Nwosu a befitting national honour. “Unfortunately, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu died recently and his burial programme has been announced by his family.

So, it is the expectation of Nigerians that President Tinubu should authorize a national burial for him. It will be to the credit of President Tinubu, the only true civilian to be elected president of Nigeria after President Shehu Shagari and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to approve the national headquarters of the INEC to be named after Prof. Humphrey Nwosu.”

Meanwhile, Olkorie, in glowing tribute to late Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, described him as an irrepressible champion of true federalism in Nigeria. “Chief Ayo Adebanjo was a Nigerian statesman and a quintessential nationalist. His kind, who are still alive in Nigeria, can be counted on the fingertips. I have always been enamoured by his courage, forthrightness, sincerity and the power of his convictions.

“I remember with nostalgia, the epic presidential media chat we had with President Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 at the Aso Rock presidential villa. Chief Ayo Adebanjo represented the Afenifere on the panel, Dr. Paul Unongo represented the Arewa Consultative Assembly, and l was nominated by the Imeobi to represent the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.

“President Obasanjo was the host, while Prof Tonnie Iredia anchored the chat. Top executives of major media organisations were among the audience, including Dr. Eddie Iroh, the Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Senator Ben Bruce. “The 2-hour programme was extensively promoted by the NTA, which attracted a nationwide audience. It was watched in the manner of a typical World Cup match. That was my first personal encounter with Chief Ayo Adebanjo.

“Coincidentally, Chief Adebanjo and I were on the same page on the national issues that came up during the chat. It will be recalled that it was Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu that first promoted the idea of a ‘handshake across the Niger” to encourage Igbo-Yoruba rapprochement. Chief Adebanjo and other Afenifere leaders keyed into it.

“When Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN) came up with an expanded version called Nigerian Ethnic Nationalities Forum, it was promptly embraced by the leaders of Igbo, Yoruba, Middle Belt, and SouthSouth. Chief Adebanjo was a strong pillar of this national initiative to unit all the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria in the noble pursuit of true federalism and the self-determination of ethnic nationalities within the context of one Nigeria. “Meetings were held in Lagos most of the time.

But in 2004, a historic meeting of the Forum took place at Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s residence, which attracted for the first time in recent history the first-eleven Yoruba leaders to Enugu to meet on matters of mational unity. “Yoruba leaders who attended the Enugu meeting included Chief Adebanjo, Chief Fasoranti, Chief Adefarasin, Chief Ajayi, Senator Femi Okorunmu, and Chief Supo Shonibare.

Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Dr. Offia Nwali and my humble self were also in attendance, including Chief Solomon Asemota and the General Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress, who stood in for Prof. Kimse Okoko. Commodore Dan Suleiman rtd, the leader of the Middlebelt Forum, was also in attendance. “Over the years, my respect for Chief Adebanjo grew to the point that I began to admire him as a role model.

This was a man who never held an elective office in Nigeria but remained most prominent and highly respected nationwide for his nationalism, consistency in the pursuit of a restructured Nigeria, equity, justice, and fairness as the panacea for national development and unity.

“The Almighty God blessed him with sound mind such that he remained articulate and outspoken till the very end. The greatest honoir we owe Chief Adebanjo is to sustain the struggle for true federalism, which he fought for until the end and until it is achieved in the interest of present and future generations of Nigerians.”Pic: Okorie