TAIWO FAROTIMI
A letter signed by Kola Abiola, first son of Moshood Abiola, winner of the June 12, 1993 election has written a letter thanking President Muhammadu Buhari on behalf of the Abiola family. The late Abiola, by a declaration of the president, is to given a posthumous award of the highest national honour in Nigeria on June 12 this year.
The honour is a recognition of being the winner of the election, annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida then military president, and being a martyr of democracy in the country. He died in military detention in July 1998 for daring to claim his mandate.
Kola Abiola who made reference to an earlier letter he wrote to President Buhari on the 12th of June 2016 on the matter expressed the family’s appreciation for honouring their late father and “designating June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria going forward.”
Abiola’s letter of appreciation, dated June 6, the date President Buhari issued the declaration, also thanks all who worked tirelessly for the realisation of the mandate.
