The June 12 Pro-Democracy Movement of Nigeria says President Bola Tinubu must facilitate a process of national dialogue and consultation that will give birth to a democratic people’s constitution.
The convener of the movement, Mr Wale Okunniyi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday, ahead of the commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Okunniyi spoke on how Tinubu could gladden the hearts of June 12 activists under his tenure.
According to him, if the President can show commitment to a national dialogue that will lead to a truly federal constitution in his administration, it will go down in history and become memorable.
The late Chief MKO Abiola, the victor of the annulled election, stood and died for this hope, according to Okunniyi, and the President would be actualizing it by doing so.
“The current President must act swiftly to initiate a national dialogue and consultation process that will give rise to a constituents assembly that can draft a people’s constitution. Only then will Tinubu’s administration have the potential to solidify Hope ’93 of MKO Abiola on June 12th.”
“Doing this is the only thing he can do to immortalize the June 12th struggle of MKO Abiola and the National Democratic Coalition, of which Tinubu was a member.
“The only record that will be memorable with Tinubu’s administration about the June 12 struggle and democracy is to facilitate a process for national discussion and dialogue.
“The President can create a new people’s constitution for Nigeria through democratic discourse, which will be ingrained in the country’s history for all time,” Okunniyi stated.
According to him, the movement will mobilize June 12 activists and stakeholders for a national discussion on how democracy can work for the people in commemoration of the 31st anniversary.
He said that the present civil rule had only limited features and benefits of democracy.
“For us as leaders of the June 12 pro-democracy movement, we must organise the Nigerian people to consolidate the present nascent democracy of Nigeria further.
“This is to bring to mind the struggles and what we have done to bring about what we have now as civil rule or democratic governance.
“We are putting these in focus in this year’s June 12, and we are refocusing on generating a democratic people’s constitution for Nigeria and securing the destiny and future of Nigeria,” he said.
Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a former Commonwealth Secretary General, will preside over the 2024 anniversary, according to Okunniyi, and Dr. Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of Ekiti, will deliver the keynote address.
“This year, as we commemorate the June 12 anniversary, our message and main focus will be on how to create and implement a democratic people’s constitution for Nigeria that will be made available to the people through an elected constituent assembly.
The Decree 24 of 1999, he claimed, “is what we have today that is generating crises in Nigeria; it is not essentially generated and produced by the Nigerian people.”
For Nigeria to advance, he said, its citizens must remain devoted to the fight and the cause of a new democratic people’s constitution.
As per his assertion, Nigeria cannot claim to be a democratic country without a democratic constitution, which explains why democracy is currently failing to benefit the populace.
“What we have today doesn’t reflect Hope’93. According to MKO Abiola, the current state of democracy in the country is unsatisfactory.
According to him, NADECO sought two things upon MKO Abiola’s death: a unitary government and a sovereign national conference to draft a constitution for the people.
