25 years after the military nullified the outcome of Nigeria's democratic elections of June 12, 1993, the country, today led by another soldier from the past, marches into the future with its gaze firmly fixed backwards. Now as then, the country needs a committed civic coalition to show up and reclaim a space increasingly constrained by a regime that shows casual disregard for both democracy and the citizens from whom it receives its mandate to rule.
The two candidates in the presidential ballot on 12 June 1993 were Alhaji Bashir Tofa of the National Republic Convention, NRC, and Alhaji Moshood Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). They were both Muslims. Today, unprecedented levels of sectarian poison would make such a ticket unthinkable. 10 days after the vote took place, the National Electoral Commission, NEC, was yet to officially declare the outcome.
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