June 12: South-West’s democratic journey, gains and challenges

By Dayo Johnson, Rotimi Ojomoyela, Shina Abubakar, James Ogunnike & Adeola Badru
As Nigeria marks another Democracy Day on June 12, thirty-three years after the election, attention once again turns to the South West geopolitical zone, the region that became the epicentre of one of the most defining struggles in the country’s democratic history.
The annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, widely acclaimed to have been won by late business mogul and politician Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, triggered a political resistance movement that reshaped Nigeria’s democratic landscape and cemented the South West’s position as a leading force in the fight for democratic gov...