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Politics of Friday, 26 May 2023

Source: www.legit.ng

'Mr democrat' – Tinubu hails Buhari, mocks Obasanjo for one thing he failed to do that Buhari has done

President-elect, Bola Tinubu and Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo (Collage) President-elect, Bola Tinubu and Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo (Collage)

Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, in a veiled comment, shaded former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, for their failure to recognise and honour June 12, 1993 election and its winner, Chief MKO Abiola.

Tinubu then went ahead to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for recognising Abiola and the June 12 election while describing the outgoing president as "Mr. Democrat".

According to the president-elect, Buhari has made history, and no one can deny his contribution to Nigeria's national development, adding that Buhari's contribution to democratic governance cannot be compared to that of Obasanjo and other former presidents.

Tinubu said: "President Buhari, you have shown courage and taken tough decisions that others avoided. One such decision is to recognise the injustice of the annulment of the 1993 election to designate June 12 as a democracy day and to bestow the nation's highest honor on Chief MKO Abiola.

"As much as anyone could, you reached back into history to set the record straight and heal the history wound."

Tinubu made the comment on Thursday, May 29, after receiving the honour of the GCFR from the outgoing president. The event was broadcast live and monitored by legit.ng.

On the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, Obasanjo became the president and was expected to recognise June 12 election and honour Abiola, who was his kinsman and secondary schoolmate, but the Owu man ignored the expectation.

Succeeding Presidents after Obasanjo, who was the late Yar'Adua and Jonathan, took Obasanjo's footsteps until Buhari's administration declared Abiola as the winner of the election and established June 12 as democracy day in Nigeria.