Friday, June 12 has been declared a work-free day in Lagos.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State made this declaration in commemoration of the annulled June 12, 1993 elections, presumed to have been won by the late Chief MKO Abiola.

Ambode, in a statement on Thursday, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Habib Aruna, said the date marked a watershed in the annals of transparent, free and fair elections in the country.

He said, “June 12, 1993 was the day Nigerians voted in one voice across ethnic, racial and religious lines.”

“It represented the real Democracy Day when Nigerians said no to voting along ethnic lines. Regrettably, 22 years after the annulment, the nation is still grappling with some of the vices which the June 12, 1993 elections sought to confine to the dustbin of history through undue clinging to ethnic cleavages by some political gladiators.”

Ambode urged residents to spend the day in sober reflection and in remembrance of the martyrs of the June 12 election struggle in prayers for laying the foundation of the democracy which the nation was now enjoying.