Former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Jerry Gana, has described the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election as a tragic mistake that was not supposed to have happened. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Nigeria’s democracy so far, Gana said that former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, meant well by organizing the election, but some powerful forces made him annul it to protect their selfish interests. Gana expressed his belief that democracy was better than any other form of government across the globe and that Nigerians needed to thank God for keeping the people and the country together from 1999 to 2023, despite many challenges.
Furthermore, Gana said that Nigeria had put many institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in place to ensure good governance, fairness, justice, and equity. He saw INEC as responsible for the current electoral challenges where many election results that supposedly involved INEC were taken to court for alleged electoral manipulations.
However, Gana expressed optimism that Nigeria would perfect its democracy and that education could be the bedrock of any meaningful society. Kuta-Yahaya, a former Secretary to Niger Government, also believes it is necessary to caution the country’s leaders to improve the electoral process. Both Gana and Kuta-Yahaya praised the June 12, 1993, presidential election as a moment of political history when Nigerians expressed satisfaction with democracy because they were tired of continuous military dictatorship.
