President Bola Tinubu says that the days when illegal court orders were used to truncate Nigeria’s democracy are over in the country.

In his Democracy Day speech on Monday, President Tinubu praised the late MKO Abiola, Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate in 1993.

“For Chief MKO Abiola, the symbol of this day, in whose memory June 12 became a national holiday, democracy is eternal,” Mr Tinubu said.

“It is about rule of law and vibrant judiciary that can be trusted to deliver justice and strengthen institutions. It has become imperative to state here that the unnecessary illegal orders used to truncate or abridge democracy will no longer be tolerated.”

Mr Tinubu’s statement comes as the court determines election petitions by Labour Party’s Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging his February 25 election victory.

Mr Tinubu was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and was sworn on May 29.

Before now, Nigeria’s Democracy Day used to be May 29 untill President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2018, declared June 12 Nigeria’s Democracy Day to honour MKO Abiola, adjudged winner of the annulled June 12, 1999 presidential election.