The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yakubu Mahmood, has urged the Federal Government to bestow a posthumous national honour on the late Humphrey Nwosu, former chairman of the now-defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC).
Speaking at the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Monday during a tribute event for Nwosu, who oversaw the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, Mahmood emphasized the importance of recognizing his contributions to Nigeria’s electoral process.
“A quarter of a century (25 years) later in June 2018, the presumed winner of the 1993 Presidential election, Chief M. K. O. Abiola, received the highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), posthumously.
“His running mate, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, was conferred with the second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON). The date of the election (June 12th, 1993) has been gazetted as a national holiday and appropriately named as Democracy Day,” Mahmood stated.
He expressed disappointment that Nwosu and the commission that conducted the election were never officially recognized for their role.
“Sadly, the electoral commission that conducted the election which was personified by Professor Nwosu received only a muffled commendation as if no one conducted the election. Surely, the election did not conduct itself. It was organised by a Commission made up of Commissioners and a Chairman. If it was an oversight that Professor Nwosu was not honoured in his lifetime, it is never too late for the appropriate authority to do so posthumously,” he added.
Mahmood praised Nwosu’s leadership, noting that he introduced key reforms to the electoral system, including the Open Ballot System, commonly known as Option A4, which allowed voters to queue behind their preferred party’s symbol for transparency.
“His tenure is synonymous with the Open Ballot System popularly referred to as Option A4 in which voters queued up behind the symbol of the party of their choice to vote and to be physically counted,” he said.
Nwosu, who was born on October 2, 1941, passed away on October 24, 2024.
