Abuja — Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central Senatorial District, has praised President Bola Tinubu for posthumously honouring Professor Humphrey Nwosu, the electoral umpire who oversaw the acclaimed 1993 presidential election, describing the gesture as a long-overdue act of justice.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday after president Tinubu’s speech during his visits on Democracy Day, Senator Umeh said he was elated by the president’s recognition of Nwosu, despite a failed Senate motion to honour him earlier. “I feel happy. The president has demonstrated today that he is a father,” Umeh said. “When we debated the issue of that honor for Humphrey Nwosu, it was defeated at the Senate, and we were not happy about it. But the president said he watched the debate and the proceedings… and that he would do something. Today he has honored him.”
Senator Umeh emphasized that Nwosu should never have been blamed for the annulment of the 1993 election by the military regime, asserting that the former National Electoral Commission (NEC) chairman had no power to stop the junta. “Justice has been done to him… he deserves to be honored as a hero of that election,” Umeh said.
On the state of opposition politics in Nigeria, Senator Umeh responded to remarks by President Tinubu, who noted the disarray among opposition parties while insisting he does not support a one-party state.
“The president has absorbed himself of any blame about people who are jumping from their seats to another place… He said he doesn’t want a one-party state and he doesn’t want opposition to be silenced,” Umeh noted. “In fact, he made a remarkable statement — that it is from the opposition that a leader shall sometimes receive the best advice.”
He defended the president against accusations of undermining opposition groups, insisting that Tinubu’s public commitment to a multiparty democracy should be taken seriously. “He has said that he has a mission… anybody who is blaming him is wasting his time.”
On the ongoing defections of lawmakers and politicians to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Umeh said individuals must take responsibility for their political choices. “The president has said he’s not the one engineering any action. So for those who are moving, they have to go and reassess themselves,” he said.
Umeh’s remarks underscore growing concerns about political pluralism in Nigeria, even as the presidency continues to assure the public of its commitment to democratic norms.
