Reps approve June 12 as democracy day

The House of Representatives has endorsed June 12 as Nigeria’s official democracy day.

It made the approval following an adoption of a report on a bill seeking to amend the Public Holidays Act 2004.

Considering the report during plenary on Thursday, December 6, 2018, the lawmakers approved the amendments to three clauses ‎in the Act, as recommended in the report.

President Muhammadu Buhari had declared June 12 as Nigeria’s new Democracy Day in honour of the late MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

The President announced this in a statement issued on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. He also awarded Abiola the highest honour in the nation – Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR). May 29 had been celebrated as Nigeria’s Democracy Day for the past two decades.