June 12 is usually a public holiday in Nigeria. It is a day set aside to honour late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola popularly known as MKO. He was born in 1937 and died July 7, 1998; he was 60 years old precisely and if he was not dead, he would have been 81 years old this coming August 24th, 2018.
June 12 remains one of the most popular holidays in Nigeria and memories of what happened 25 years ago would still linger in the hearts of Nigerians forever. In 1993, the deceased took part in the country’s presidential election which held on the 12th of June. MKO came out victorious under the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He defeated Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC)
View Candidate Party Votes percentage here
Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola- Social Democratic Party- 8,341,309 58.36
Bashir Tofa- National Republican Convention- 5,952,087 41.64
Total 14,293,396100
(Source: African Elections Database)
It was however manipulated. The election was quashed by Military ruler Ibrahim Babaginda. This act led to crisis that ended with Sani Abacha leading a coup later in the year.
When MKO died, an autopsy that was carried out on him revealed he died a natural death but the people of Nigeria still believe there is more to his death and could not have been a natural death.
May his soul continue to rest in peace!
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_presidential_election,_1993
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