Okorie urges Tinubu to name INEC HQ after Humphrey Nwosu

Elder statesman, Chief Chekwas Okorie, has urged President Bola Tinubu to name the national headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in honour of the late Professor Humphrey Nwosu for his role in the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election in Nigeria.

Okorie stated that his request was based on last week’s admission by former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, that Chief MKO Abiola won the election, which has been widely regarded as the fairest and freest in the country’s history.

In a statement sent to The Guardian in Enugu, Okorie expressed regret that Nwosu, who passed away last year, remained the most visible yet unsung hero of the election.

He noted that while Nigerians commended former President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring June 12 as Democracy Day in place of May 29, Buhari also affirmed Chief Abiola as the winner of the election, alongside his running mate, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe.

“The two were accordingly honored with the requisite national honors of GCFR and GCON, respectively.

“Regrettably, no mention was made of Professor Humphrey Nwosu in the honors list for the historic June 12 election.
Professor Nwosu had long before President Buhari honored the June 12 heroes written his book, where he gave an account of the true outcome of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, including the figures scored by Chief MKO Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Alhaji Bashir Tofa, the presidential candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), showing Abiola’s resounding victory.

“The undisputed fact is that there would be no June 12 celebration in Nigeria without Professor 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,” Okorie said.

He argued that three decades after the annulment, Babangida had publicly presented his memoir, which vindicated Professor Nwosu, even boasting that it was under his watch that Nigeria conducted its fairest and freest presidential election.

“Yet, the architect of this unprecedented national feat remains unsung. The big question is, when will Nigeria have the good fortune to have someone like Professor Humphrey Nwosu preside over INEC again?

“President Muhammadu Buhari has done his part by giving Nigeria a more acceptable Democracy Day—June 12—and honoring the late MKO Abiola as a former president with a posthumous award of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).

“The ball is now in the court of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to give Professor Nwosu a befitting national honor.
“Unfortunately, Professor Humphrey Nwosu recently passed away, and his burial program has been announced by his family.

“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 renaming of the INEC national headquarters after Professor Humphrey Nwosu,” he added.