The National President, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Debo Adeniran, has called for the recognition of Moshood Abiola as former president of Nigeria and June 12 named MKO Abiola Day.
Adeniran noted that while it is a good development that June 12 has been recognized as Democracy Day in Nigeria, it should be extended to naming the day after Abiola.
In a statement, yesterday, he said: “Few days ago, Nigerians marked Democracy Day also known as June 12. But in any case, June 12 is just like any other date of the year. However, the date has a strong significant relevance to the Nigerian political history.
“In view of the importance of June 12 in the history of Nigeria, former President MuhammaduBuhari on 6 June, 2018, six days to June 12 of that year, set the day aside as Nigeria’s Democracy Day.
“To this end, we at the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) were taken aback and our hopes were dashed during and after your democracy day speech. This was due to the fact that we expected you to declare MKO Abiola as former President of our great country.
The immediate past president, Buhari has surpassed you by recognizing the day and making it democracy day to be celebrated by all and sundry in the country. We expected you to go a step further by recognizing him as a former president and even naming June 12, M.K.O Abiola Day to be fashioned after the famous Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”
