The Senate on Thursday kicked against the motion to honour the former Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, who supervised the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election, late Professor Humphrey Nwosu.
But the Senate held a minute of silence to pay tribute to the late Professor, it decided against the proposals to award him a national honour and to rename the INEC headquarters in his memory.
On Wednesday, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and several co-sponsors from the minority caucus, largely representing the South-East geopolitical zone, brought a motion under matters of urgent public importance, seeking to immortalise the late academic for his role in the country’s democratic evolution..
But the proposal was stapled by the Senate and moved to the next legislative day after a heated debate on the floor of the Senate.
However, the former Senate minority leader brought the motion forward for consideration on the floor of the Senate.
Abaribe urged the Federal Government to commemorate him by naming the current INEC Headquarters after him and also give the second highest national honour in the country.
Also speaking, Senator Osita Ngwu acknowledged that Nwosu operated under a military regime, which restricted his ability to announce the results. He argued that “there was no way he would have announced the results with a gun to his head. “That doesn’t change the fact that some of us see him as a hero”.
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Senator Austin Akobundu, however, described it as most uncharitable for lawmakers to dismiss Nwosu’s contributions, insisting that he deserved a place in Nigeria’s hall of honour.
But Senator Adams Oshiomhole while speaking against the motion stated categorically that Prof Nwosu and former military president, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida fooled 18 million Nigerians who voted during the election.
According to him, Prof. Nwosu and IBB fooled 18 million Nigerians that voted. If he was afraid of the gun, we were under dictatorship, so people will say then, there were Nigerians who were protesting without minding the consequences after the death of Abiola that gave birth to new democracy that produced Obasanjo, I would have expected Nwosu to say either on his birthday or special occasion, I could not declare this number Abiola won that election’.
Also speaking against the motion, Senator Sunday Karimi criticised Nwosu for lacking the courage to speak out, while Senator Afolabi Salisu warned that immortalising him would undermine the memory of MKO Abiola, the widely accepted winner of the June 12, 1993, annulled election.
“Any attempt to do anything beyond a one-minute silence is to rubbish Abiola’s legacy,” Salisu said.
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