June 12: Include Abiola’s name on Heads of State’s list –Walter Carrington tells Buhari

A former American Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Walter Carrington (OFR), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to add the name of the adjudged winner of the annulled 1993 Presidential elections, Chief Moshood Abiola, to the list of Nigeria’s Heads of State.

Carrington said this in a statement congratulating Nigerians on the recognition of June 12 as the Democracy Day.

He said, “I wish we could be with you on this first national acknowledgement of June 12 as Democracy Day.  Its future celebrations will remind generations of Nigerians yet unborn of the sacrifices their ancestors made.

“The names of M.K.O. and his beloved Kudirat and all who joined them in martyrdom will be forever remembered along with those of their countrymen and women who lived to carry on the struggle that led to the restoration of civilian rule.

“From this day onward, any listing of Nigeria’s Heads of State must include the name of Moshood Abiola, because on June 12, 1993, he clearly and decisively won what was then universally hailed as the freest and fairest election in the country’s history.

“I am heartened that, at long last, Nigeria, in the stirring words of its national anthem, honours the labours of these heroes past and recognise that they have not been in vain.”