President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will at 12:00 p.m. today, deliver his first State of the Nation address before a joint session of the National Assembly.
This is in commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day.
The event marks the anniversary of the June 12, 1993 presidential election—widely regarded as the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history—which was controversially annulled by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.
President Tinubu’s address to federal lawmakers is expected to focus on national priorities, democratic progress, and the overall state of governance under his administration.
June 12 was declared Democracy Day by former President Muhammadu Buhari, replacing May 29 as the official date for commemorating Nigeria’s return to civil rule. Buhari also posthumously recognised Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the presumed winner of the 1993 poll, as President, and conferred on him the nation’s highest honour—the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).
Abiola, a business mogul had declared himself president in 1994 at Epetedo, Lagos, after months of failed attempts to reclaim his mandate. He was arrested, charged with treason, and died in detention on July 7, 1998.
To give more value to today’s occasion, the Federal Government announced the cancellation of the traditional military parade.