Abdulmumuni Abiola, son of the late business magnate and acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, has called on Nigerians to play a more active role in the democratic process, insisting that genuine progress can only be achieved through sustained civic engagement and electoral participation.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE News on Thursday to mark Democracy Day, Abdulmumuni reflected on the significance of June 12 and the current state of governance in Nigeria.
He stressed that while many citizens are dissatisfied with the dividends of democracy, meaningful change requires active involvement rather than political apathy.
According to him, citizens must first contribute to the democratic process before expecting positive outcomes from it.
“People are not getting the benefits they expect to get from this democracy. But going into when you expect something to come from an input you’ve made, you have to first of all make that input,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to become better informed, obtain their voter cards, participate in elections and remain vigilant in protecting the integrity of their votes.
“I think what we need to do is get engaged, get informed, and use not our words, but our actions.
”By going, voting, getting our voter’s cards, and defending our votes, this is when you start to get results,” Abdulmumuni stated.
Encouraging citizens to channel their frustrations into constructive action, he added: “If you don’t like what you see in the country today, then you should speak up, talk to your neighbors, coordinate, and let’s try to use this energy.
”Instead of being angry and abstaining from the elections, let’s use this energy toward some kind of action to change our future.”
Assessing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Democracy Day address, Abdulmumuni said the speech effectively captured the importance of June 12 and acknowledged some of the challenges confronting Nigeria’s democratic system.
“He did touch on all the points. I don’t think I can actually fault the speech itself. It basically encapsulated what June 12 actually means,” he remarked.
While noting that the President addressed several shortcomings within the current democratic framework, he maintained that he found little to criticise in the address.
“As far as I’m concerned, like I said, he had all the points, so I’m looking for something to fault, but I really can’t fault that speech, actually,” he added.
Turning to concerns about Nigeria’s democratic development, Abdulmumuni observed that many of the issues highlighted during the June 12 struggle remain unresolved decades later.
“We’re talking about 27 years ago. I think what we are facing and what we are seeing now is the fact that some of the issues that were identified in 1993 are still with us today,” he said.
According to him, the frustration expressed by many Nigerians stems not from a rejection of democracy itself but from disappointment that successive administrations have failed to deliver truly representative governance.
“After successive democratic governance, we are still basically in the same position we were when we started,” he noted.
On the growing debate surrounding state policing, Abdulmumuni expressed cautious support for the proposal but warned that its implementation must be carefully structured to prevent abuse.
“I get the idea of state policing. However, we have to be careful. When we want to adopt this, we have to look at the framework around how it’s going to be set up,” he said.
He advocated strong civilian oversight mechanisms, arguing that accountability structures must accompany any decentralised policing arrangement.
“For instance, we should have a committee built from civilians to manage what they do because it’s very easy to abuse such powers,” he advised.
Drawing attention to existing concerns about misconduct within the policing system, Abdulmumuni warned against creating state police forces that could replicate the same challenges at another level of government.
“We already see what happens with the federal police today. I don’t want a situation where that crime or criminality is now translated to the states,” he stated.
Reflecting on the legacy of June 12, he said his greatest concern is not that younger Nigerians may forget the historical significance of the date, but that the country may continue repeating past mistakes by failing to learn from its history.
“What I’m afraid of is that because we don’t learn from our history, we end up making the same mistakes,” he said.
Abdulmumuni further described democracy as an evolving process that requires continuous participation from citizens.
He argued that the quality of governance in any society is largely determined by the level of public engagement.
“Democracy is not a destination; it’s a journey. So, it’s going to keep on changing, and the more we engage with that process, the better it’s going to be,” he stated.
He also emphasized that the ideals championed by his late father extended beyond electoral politics and included broader concerns such as healthcare, poverty reduction, economic opportunity and national pride.
“But there were some issues my father wanted to address. We’re talking about basic issues: healthcare, the healthcare situation in the country and even just Nigerian people having some kind of pride in who they are,” he said.
Addressing Nigeria’s growing political divisions, Abdulmumuni credited M.K.O. Abiola’s widespread appeal to his ability to communicate a compelling vision that resonated across ethnic, religious and regional lines.
“The thing that Abiola was able to do was express himself. He was able to convey his message and his vision and sell his vision to the Nigerian people,” he noted.
He lamented what he described as a lack of visionary politics in the current era, arguing that many political actors now focus primarily on their existing support bases rather than engaging the wider electorate.
“Nobody is selling any vision to anybody. People are just talking to their own echo chambers,” he said.
Looking ahead to the 2027 elections, Abdulmumuni expressed hope that more Nigerians would take an active interest in choosing their leaders and remain engaged long after election day.
“You can’t just vote one day and then go to sleep for four years. No, you’re supposed to be there with them. So, it’s a two-way street,” he insisted.
