LAGOS DECLARES JUNE 12 PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Thursday declared Friday, June 12 as a Work Free Day in commemoration of the annulment of the June 12 1993 elections which was presumed to have been won by late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Habib Aruna, the Governor said the date marked a watershed in the annals of transparent, free and fair elections in the country.

He said June 12, 1993 was the day Nigerians voted in one voice across ethnic, racial and religious lines, saying it represented the real democracy day when Nigerians said no to voting along ethnic lines.

The Governor said regrettably, 22 years after the annulment, the Nigerian nation is still grappling with some of the vices which the June 12, 1993 elections sought to confine to the dustbin of history through undue clinging to ethnic cleavages by some political gladiators.

He urged residents to spend the day in sober reflection and in remembrance of the martyrs of the June 12 elections struggle in prayers for laying the foundation of the democracy which the nation is now enjoying.