The Oyo and Osun governments on Monday declared Wednesday as work free to commemorate the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, cancelled by the military government of the time.
In a statement in Ibadan, Dr Festus Adedayo, the Special Adviser to Oyo State Governor on Media, said the holiday was to mark the 20th anniversary of the election, adjudged the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s political history.
The statement said the holiday was also a recognition of the martyrdom of the late Chief MKO Abiola the acclaimed winner of the election.
It said Abiola ought to be honoured for laying down his life for Nigerians to enjoy democratic governance.
Similarly, the Commissioner for Information in Osun, Mr Sunday Akere, said in a statement in Osogbo that the holiday was to recognise when an election adjudged the freest and fairest in Nigeria was annulled.
Akere said that June 12 would continue to stand for democracy and good government and as such nothing was too much to honour the day.