By Jude Michael
A pro-Igbo youth group, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), has urged President Bola Tinubu to honour erstwhile Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof Humphrey Nwosu.
The group said as Nigeria celebrated Democracy Day, it must also remember that the story was incomplete without Nwosu who played a vital role in the 1993 election.
In a press statement by its President General, Mr Goodluck Ibem, the group said: ‘A team that wins a match in which a goal was scored by one of the players was not made possible only by the player who scored the goal. The winning came as a result of the input of other players.
‘That a free and fair election was conducted by National Electoral Commission, NEC, on June 12, 1993, was made possible because a man who believed in transparency and integrity was at the helm of affairs of the electoral body at that time.
‘We must tell ourselves the truth that if not for the impeccable integrity of Professor Humphrey Nwosu who conducted a free and fair election where Nigerians from all walks of life, tribe and religion, spoke their minds through the ballot box, there won’t be any Democracy Day to celebrate today.’
The group said Nwosu conducted a free and fair election where political freedom and fair processes led to the acceptance of election results by all parties.
It said the 12 June 1993 election met international standards for free and fair election.
‘Nigerians are celebrating today because of Humphrey Nwosu and it will be totally unjust and unfair to forget to give honour to whom honour is due.
‘We therefore urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to honour Professor Humphrey Nwosu who made Nigerians proud by conducting the freest and fairest election ever in the history of the nation,’ the statement read.
