By Sani Danlami, Abuja
Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, has accused former military Head of State Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) and the late Humphrey Nwosu, Chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC), of deceiving the 18 million Nigerians who voted in the 1993 presidential election.**
Oshiomhole made the statement while opposing a motion by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe seeking to immortalize Nwosu in the Senate on Thursday.
He argued that Nigeria should not honour Nwosu, claiming that the late electoral chief failed to admit to the injustices and irregularities that marred the June 12, 1993, election.
Oshiomhole stated that Prof. Nwosu and IBB deceived 18 million voters, adding that even if Nwosu feared the military regime, some Nigerians still dared to protest under gunfire.
According to Oshiomhole: “Prof. Nwosu and IBB fooled 18 million Nigerians that voted. Therefore, if he was afraid of the gun because we were under a dictatorship, Some people might say, but there were Nigerians who were protesting under the gun without minding the consequences.
“After the end of Babangida’s tenure, the death of Abiola, the birth of the new democracy that produced President Obasanjo, since then, I would have expected Nwosu to be able to say, either on his birthday or any occasion: “now that we are about democracy and there is freedom of speech – even the freedom to lie.
“I would have expected Nwosu to say, “I couldn’t display these numbers now in my record; Abiola won this election, but I’m not able to announce it.’ He died without confessing, and he cannot be rewarded.”
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