Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has declared June 12, as public holiday in the state.
This is contained in a statement issued by Soji Eniade, the state’s Head of Service.
The statement quoted the head of service as saying that “the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Mr Abiola Ajimobi, has approved Friday, June 12, 2015 be observed as public holiday in the state”.
He said the date was set aside to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of June 12 general election that was annulled by the then military government.
He stated that Gov. Ajimobi had urged the people of Oyo State to remain steadfast in their prayers for sustainable democracy in Nigeria and development in Oyo State.
In a related development, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has also declared Friday a work-free day.
In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna, the governor said June 12 marked a watershed in the annals of transparent, free and fair elections in the country.
He described June 12, 1993 as 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.
Gov. Ambode 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, therefore, 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.
June 12 is celebrated across most of the South-West States in commemoration of the presumed winner of the 1993 presidential elections, late Chief M.K.O Abiola.
