The National Assembly has formally adopted June 12 as the day for the President of Nigeria to address a joint session of the legislature.
The decision was taken on Thursday during a special Democracy Day sitting at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, where President Bola Tinubu delivered a commemorative address to lawmakers.
Presiding over the joint session, Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the formalisation of the date following a motion raised by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
“Mr. President, in the eloquent speech by the Honourable Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, he raised a motion that June 12 should be formalised as the Presidential Day of Address to the joint session of the National Assembly. I hereby put the question,” Akpabio said, drawing responses from the floor.
“Those in support of the motion, moved and seconded, say ‘Aye’; those against say ‘Nay’. The ‘Ayes’ have it,” he ruled.
Addressing President Tinubu directly, Akpabio added, “Mr President, that is the motion of the National Assembly, done in your presence. Mr Speaker, the statistics do not lie—we are quite happy with the data you rolled out and the House that we all run”.
The Senate had earlier, on June 10, hinted at plans to institutionalise the annual presidential address on June 12, given its historic significance.
Speaking with journalists on Tuesday, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele confirmed that a bill to that effect was in the works.
“We are hoping to bring a bill soon to institutionalise the President’s address on June 12 because of its historical importance. There can’t be a better time to address the nation through the Parliament than on June 12, especially since it is a joint sitting of the National Assembly,” Bamidele said.
He further disclosed that the proposed legislation would also seek to establish the National Assembly complex as the official venue for future presidential swearing-in ceremonies.
“In that bill, we are hoping to ensure that the swearing-in ceremony of the next President and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria—whom we believe will be President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—will be held within the arcade of the National Assembly,” he stated.
During his Democracy Day address, President Tinubu conferred national honours on several prominent Nigerians, including the late Kudirat Abiola, wife of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola.
Others honoured included the former chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC), Professor Humphrey Nwosu, and the late former Vice President, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.
Late Moshood Abiola, acclaimed winner of the 1993 June 12 presidential election.
June 12 gained prominence in Nigeria’s political history following the annulment of the 1993 presidential election, which is widely believed to have been won by MKO Abiola.
The election, often described as the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history, was controversially annulled by then-military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, triggering nationwide protests and unrest.
As part of efforts to recognise the significance of the date, former President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2018, officially designated June 12 as Nigeria’s new Democracy Day, shifting it from May 29.
The move was widely seen as a posthumous recognition of Abiola’s democratic legacy.
In a significant twist, Babangida, in his memoir released in February 2025, admitted for the first time that Abiola had indeed won the 1993 election.
His revelation drew several mixed reactions from Nigerians. However, the formal adoption of June 12 as the annual day of presidential address marks another symbolic gesture by the government to honour Nigeria’s democratic journey and the sacrifices of those who fought for it.
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