The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to investigate the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election and ensure accountability for what it described as a violation of democratic freedoms.
In a letter dated June 14, 2025, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation urged Tinubu to establish a presidential panel of enquiry to uncover those behind the “unlawful annulment” and to hold them accountable—regardless of their status or political ties.
“No one is above the law, and there is no statute of limitations for violations of democratic freedoms,” SERAP stated.
The group emphasized that symbolic gestures were not enough to honour the legacy of June 12 without concrete action. “These expressed commitments won’t be enough unless your government demonstrates the political will to combat impunity for the annulment of the June 12 elections and advance Nigerians’ democratic freedoms,” it said.
SERAP also recommended legal reforms, including an executive bill to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to make electronic transmission of results mandatory and to grant every voter—not just litigants—access to election documents.
“Amending the Electoral Act to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory and allow access for every voter to the results would ensure free, fair, and transparent elections and improve public confidence in the electoral process,” the letter read.
It warned that failure to address the historical injustice of the June 12 annulment encourages impunity and threatens democratic progress.
“Impunity for the annulment of June 12 elections has continued to encourage politicians to undermine the country’s elections and deny Nigerians their right to political participation and other human rights,” SERAP added.
The group also called on the President to order the Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to drop all charges against Nigerians arrested solely for peacefully exercising their rights, including during protests. Additionally, it urged reform of restrictive laws used against critics, journalists, and activists, such as criminal defamation statutes in the Cybercrimes Act, Criminal Code, and Penal Code.
SERAP cautioned against the continued use of strategic lawsuits as tools of intimidation and repression.
While acknowledging Tinubu’s Democracy Day address and his promise to uphold the ideals of June 12, SERAP stressed: “Words must be matched with action.”
The organisation issued a seven-day ultimatum, threatening legal action if the government fails to respond to its demands.
