The Presidential National Broadcast of President Bola Tinubu earlier scheduled for 7 am in commemoration of Democracy Day on June 12 has been cancelled.
This was contained in a statement by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Segun Imohiosen, on Wednesday.
According to the statement, this is due to the President’s scheduled attendance at the National Assembly’s joint session on Thursday.
Tinubu is, however, expected to deliver his address at the National Assembly.
“Due to H.E President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, scheduled attendance at the National Assembly Joint Session, the Presidential National Broadcast on June 12 has been cancelled.
“President Bola Ahmed will deliver his address from the National Assembly. All other plans are in order as announced earlier,” the statement read in part.
The President had been scheduled to address the nation at 7 am on Thursday as part of activities to mark the celebration before attending a joint session of the National Assembly at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Democracy Day, in a statement issued by Abdulhakeem Adeoye on behalf of the committee’s Director, Information and Public Relations, on Wednesday, said Tinubu would, after his address, attend a joint session of the National Assembly at noon.
Adeoye also said there would be no Democracy Day parade while a public lecture on the Democracy Day celebration would be held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, at 4 pm.
The theme of the lecture is “Consolidating on the Gains of Nigeria’s Democracy: Necessity of Enduring Reforms”.
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This year’s Democracy Day event marks 26 years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria, following the end of military rule in 1999.
Previously celebrated on May 29, the swearing-in day for the President, governors, National Assembly members, and state lawmakers, the Democracy Day event was moved to June 12 in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to honour the annulled 1993 presidential election won by MKO Abiola and considered one of Nigeria’s most credible polls.
The 2025 Democracy Day celebration will be the third since President Tinubu assumed office in 2023, after winning a highly contested presidential election earlier that year.
However, despite the over two decades of unhindered democracy in Nigeria, critics are questioning the country’s democratic values.
A chieftain of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, speaking on the Wednesday edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, warned that the country was sliding into a civilian dictatorship.
“I’m very happy that today coincides with the lead-up to June 12 (Democracy Day), so that if we still have any iota of conscience left, we’ll realise we have damaged this democracy,” Momodu said.
