..describes it as victory for robust legislative engagement

Senator Austin Akobundu has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for conferring a posthumous National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) on the late Chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof. Humphrey Nwosu.

Recall that Prof. Humphrey Nwosu’s NEC conducted the June 12, 1993 elections widely acknowledged as the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria to date. The election was supposed to have ushered in Chief MKO Abiola as President having scored a majority of the votes but was annulled by the then military junta headed by General Ibrahim Babangida.

In honour of the day, Nigeria declared June 12 of every year as Democracy Day.

In view of the need to honour Prof. Humphrey Nwosu who conducted the election, the Senate on March 27, 2025 debated a motion on the subject and even though some of the senators argued vehemently against and rejected the idea, Senator Austin Akobundu, among few others, stood his ground and strongly canvassed reasons why the former NEC Chairman must be honoured by the nation.

While further contributing to the debate, Senator Akobundu described as “very uncharitable” the attempt by some of his colleagues to downplay the works and courage displayed by Prof. Nwosu in the face of imminent risks to his life as he dared the military junta over conduct of the election. The Abia Central Senator went ahead to remind those arguing against honouring the late Professor that, “Recently, the former president, Ibrahim Babangida, owned up to his mistakes. If Humphrey Nwosu did not conduct a credible election, how would Abiola’s election be validated? So, it was a validation (of the election),” he declared.

Speaking further on the matter, Akobundu said, “I was in service (during the June 12 saga) and I know a whole lot about the doggedness, the courage that Humphrey Nwosu demonstrated up to the point he was stopped from continuing with the results. To stay here and not acknowledge that Humphrey was a fighter who stood his ground against the military leadership to ensure that democracy was enthroned, is most uncharitable.

“It is very uncharitable to say that when he (Nwosu) was alive, he didn’t do anything. Let me bring it out that Humphrey Nwosu published a book where he detailed all that happened including the results that validated Abiola’s election.

“Humphrey Nwosu remains a great man in our hearts and should be given his rightful place in the hall of honour in this country,” Akobundu concluded.

The issue became so heated that Akobundu and a caucus of senators staged a walkout on the floor of the senate over the issue.

However, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu listened to the voice of reason and conferred the honour of CON on the former NEC Chairman during his Democracy Day address to a joint session of the NationalAssembly today, an act for which Senator Akobundu commended the President, describing it as “victory for robust legislative engagements by those who aligned themselves with the right side of history.”

Finally, Senator Austin Akobundu and his colleagues have been justified in their courageous, forthright and tenacious pursuit of the Prof. Humphrey Nwosu’s cause for a formal national recognition.

Congratulations to the late erudite Professor!