The South-East Senate Caucus, on Thursday, urged President Bola Tinubu to immortalize Professor Humphrey Nwosu, the former Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), who recently passed away.
The Senators of the Southeast extraction made this call following the Senate’s rejection of a motion moved by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) at plenary, asking the Chamber to urge the President to immortalize Nwosu.
The motion, which divided the Senate along geo-ethnic lines, had some Senators strongly supporting it, viewing Nwosu as a hero, while others vehemently opposed it, arguing that he lacked the courage to announce the June 12, 1993 election results, declare a winner, and face the consequences.
Senators Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North), Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo South), Titus Zam Benue (North West), Solomon Olamilekan(Ogun West), and Sunday Karimi (Kogi West) argued that, despite Nwosu’s efforts, he failed to deliver the desired outcome to deserve a national honor.
On the other hand, Senators Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East), Tony Nwoye Anambara ( East West), Sampson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South), Ezenwa Onyewuchi (Imo East) and Alwell Onyesoh (River East) contended that Nwosu was a hero who did his best under the challenging conditions of a military regime.
Speaking to journalists after the Senate vote, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe stated: “We came here just to make a brief statement after the vote on our motion to immortalize Professor Humphrey Nwosu.”
His motion, co-sponsored by all South-East senators and a few others outside the region, had three key prayers: “Naming the INEC headquarters after Nwosu, given that he laid the foundation for the current structure before NEC was dissolved in 1993.
“Posthumously awarding Nwosu a national honor for his contributions to Nigeria’s democratic evolution. Observing a one-minute silence in his honor, which the Senate granted.”
Abaribe recalled that former INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, had expressed surprise during a recent colloquium that Nwosu had yet to be recognized or honored by the Nigerian government, despite conducting the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s history.
“Don’t forget that the annulment of that election led to unrest across Nigeria, ultimately forcing the military to exit power in 1999,” Abaribe noted.
Despite the Senate’s rejection, the South-East Caucus insisted that President Tinubu should do the right thing by immortalizing Professor Humphrey Nwosu, noting that Tinubu, a strong advocate of June 12, would recognize Nwosu’s contributions and grant him the honor he deserves.
He likened the situation to the delayed recognition of MKO Abiola and June 12, which were eventually acknowledged by a later administration, emphasising that Nwosu defied a court order issued by Justice Bassey Ikpeme to stop the election, ensuring the process continued despite pressure from the military government.
In seconding the motion, Senator Victor Umeh representing Anambra Central said,” when a man lives this world and makes an impact and when he departs, his departure should be marked ….
“Prof Humphrey Nwosu is not an ordinary person in Nigeria. As the motion in capsulated, he was the chairman of National Electoral Commission (NEC) and for five years under the military regime of President Badamosi Ibrahim Babangida.
“He midwife the return of democracy to Nigeria through that period and when he was appointed he started with putting in place democratic structure with the promise made by Babangida that he will exit by August 1993.
“He set out to conduct all the elections ranging from House of Assembly, governorship, National Assembly elections successfully using his designed option A4 which made it possible for people to line behind others and those elections he conducted besides June 12 election.”
Umeh added,”There were no litigations after the declaration of almost all the results. So, the country enjoyed his stewardship. Then came the presidential election.
“He prepared for the presidential election and the date was fixed for June 12, 1993, and that would have been his greatest service to this nation if he had conducted the presidential election and declared the results. He was on it until June 12, and he was summoned by the then military head of state and asked to halt the conduct of the election the next day .”
He asked the Senate to immortalize Prof Humphrey Nwosu for laying the foundation of democracy.
The late Professor Humphrey Nwosu, who passed away in October 2024, will be laid to rest in his home state of Anambra on Friday.
Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, who presided over the plenary, put the prayers to a voice vote but was greeted with a resounding ‘Nay’ by some of the senators.
