June 12: Motion to immortalise Humphrey Nwosu tears senators apart

Senators were deeply divided on Wednesday over a motion seeking to immortalise the late Prof. Humphrey Nwosu.

Nwosu was the Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) that conducted the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

The poll, widely regarded as the fairest and freest in the history of democratic governance in the country, was won by the late Chief MKO Abiola.

However, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, then the military President, annulled the result, sparking a series of controversies over the outcome.

Babangida recently admitted that Abiola indeed won the election.

The late Nwosu passed away in October 2024.

On Wednesday, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe and several co-sponsors from the minority caucus, largely representing the South-East Geopolitical Zone, brought a motion under matters of urgent public importance, seeking to immortalise the late academic for his role in the country’s democratic evolution.

However, as soon as Abaribe rose to move the motion, having been granted leave by the presiding Deputy Senate President, Sen. Barau Jibrin, he was interrupted by a point of order raised by the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele.

Bamidele argued that senators did not have copies of the motion, which he deemed a procedural breach.

Abaribe protested, asserting that the copies were available, leading to a tense atmosphere in the chamber as he insisted on proceeding with the motion.

At this point, the Deputy Senate President remarked that the motion was “controversial,” given the divided opinions of Nigerians on Nwosu’s role during the June 12 election.

“It’s controversial. Some people see him as one of those who truncated June 12, others say he was a hero of democracy,” Jibrin remarked.

When Abaribe eventually moved the motion and it was put to a voice vote, Jibrin ruled in favour of the “nays,” effectively rejecting any further action on the motion.

Subsequent attempts by Abaribe to revisit the motion, including coming under personal explanation, were opposed by the Senate.

A visibly frustrated Abaribe exclaimed, “What is wrong with this motion? What is wrong with a motion to immortalise Prof. Nwosu?”

Rising to make further arguments under Order 1b, Abaribe contended that the Senate could regulate its own proceedings at any time.

“We are not in a dictatorship. We can regulate our proceedings any time,” he declared.

Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi, supporting Abaribe, accused Jibrin of attempting to silence senators.

“We can interject with personal explanations at any time; we have to allow people to speak; otherwise, we are saying that whenever things go wrong, we cannot intervene to correct ourselves,” he argued.

Abdullahi, like Abaribe, was also overruled.

South-East senators, including Patrick Ndubaeze and Victor Umeh, openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the rejection of the motion.

“What is the meaning of this? We can’t continue to do things this way. What is going on?” Umeh exclaimed, striking his desk in frustration.

In protest, Abaribe walked out of the chamber.

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