June 12 entered Nigeria’s political discourse 32 years ago, when the most populous African country held its 1993 presidential election, after 10 years of military rule.

Though it was not Nigeria’s first election, the June 12, 1993, election date has become a major public holiday of historical significance, Nigeria’s Democracy Day.

Here are 12 things you need to know about June 12. 

1. On June 12, 1993, Nigeria held its first presidential election after the 1983 military coup d’état that ousted democratically elected President Shehu Shagari, truncated the Second Republic and ushered in the Muhammadu Buhari regime.

2. The June 12, 1993, election was Nigeria’s first election in which the “Option A4 open ballot system” was adopted. The system saw voters line up behind posters of their preferred candidates.

3. June 12, 1993 elections featured the first same faith, Muslim-Muslim candidates, Moshood Abiola, a business mogul and Babagana Kingibe, a diplomat, as presidential and vice presidential candidates of the Social Democratic Party. 

4. Bashir Tofa, and Sylvester Ugoh, an ex-Minister of Science and Technology and governor of Bank of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War,  were presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the National Republican Convention in the June 12, 1993 presidential election. 

5. Humphrey Nwosu, a professor of political science from the University of Nigeria, Nsuka, was chairman of the National Electoral Commission, which conducted the June 12 election, adjudged as Nigeria’s freest and fairest.

6. Though adjudged free and fair, the Ibrahim Babangida regime annulled the June 12, 1993, election on June 23, 1993, days after halting results announcement showing Mr Abiola was in a clear lead.

7. The announced results showed that Mr Abiola of SDP polled 8,341,309 votes, 58.36 per cent of the votes cast, while Mr Tofa of NRC polled 5,952,087 votes, 41.64 per cent of the votes.

8. June 12, 1993 presidential election annulment sparked nationwide protests, leading to Mr Babangida’s resignation as president, ushering in the interim government of Ernest Shonekan from August 26, 1993 to November 17, 1993, when it was toppled by Sani Abacha. 

9. Amid the struggle for him to be declared the winner of the June 12 election, Mr Abiola, in the Epetedo Declaration, on June 11,1994, declared himself the president of Nigeria, leading to his arrest and prolonged detention.

10. After four years in detention, Mr Abiola died on July 7, 1998. 

11. In 2018, 25 years after the June 12 election, President Muhammadu Buhari shifted Nigeria’s Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12 to mark its significance in Nigeria’s history. Mr Buhari signed the Public Holiday Amendment Act into law on June 10, 2019.

12. Mr Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993, election, who died in detention over the struggle, was posthumously awarded the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), an honour strictly reserved for heads of state.