FG declares Monday public holiday to mark Democracy Day

Democracy Day celebration usually takes place on June 12 but this year’s edition falls on Sunday thus the Monday public holiday.

Disclosing this in a statement on Thursday, June 9, 2022, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, congratulated Nigerians on this remarkable occasion and urged all citizens to support the government efforts in ensuring a secured, united and prosperous nation.

The statement said, “As we mark another Democracy Day in the history of our dear country, let us reflect on the efforts of our founding fathers and ensure that Nigeria remains one united, secured, peaceful and an indivisible entity, noting that no development can take place in an acrimonious environment,”

The Minister noted that the current challenges facing the country present an opportunity for the citizens to band together in truth rather than striving to break up our common unity.

“With the challenges we face in Nigeria today, I see an opportunity for us not to break up or break down, but to break open; open up to ourselves in truth so that we may appreciate each other, understand each other, honour each other and live together in peace and prosperity,” Aregbesola reiterated.

Democracy Day is a day set aside to celebrate Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999 after 14 years of military dictatorship.

The celebration usually takes place on May 29 of every year until 2018 when President Muhammadu Buhari moved it to June 12, in recognition of the 1993 election which was won by late Moshood Kolawole Abiola popularly known as MKO.