Will Nigeria Ever recover from June 12 poll annulment?

A group, June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations, says  20 years after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Nigeria is still living with crisis as a result of the action.

The group, however, advised that the country could overcome the outcomes of the annulment by convening a Sovereign National Conference.

The coalition, at a press conference addressed on Friday by its Chairman, Baba Omojola and its Secretary, Nelson Ekujimi, insisted that SNC could save the nation from total collapse.

The group said the consequences of the annulment were being manifested in terms of mass unemployment, poverty, corruption, culture of violence, subversion of democratic principles, failed value system and culture of impunity.”

It said the ongoing constitutional amendment process should be discarded because “the 1999 Constitution was not a creation of the Nigerian people.

“It is a military document robed in civilian camouflage.”

“The major players in the present civilian rule have become expert in exploiting the teeming masses for the economic interest.

“These cabals have turned democracy into the opposite of what it connotes – as a government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

The group added that it would mark the 20th anniversary of the annulment.

“To do this, members of National Democratic Coalition and civil society groups will renew the MKO Abiola  Epetedo declaration seeking his recognition as former President-elect of Nigeria,” the coalition said.