Senator Adams Oshiomhole has voiced strong opposition to any posthumous recognition for the late former chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission, Professor Humphrey Nwosu, arguing that his failure to officially declare the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election amounted to a betrayal of Nigerians.
Speaking during a Senate debate on Thursday, Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North, criticized both Nwosu and former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida for deceiving the electorate.
“Professor Nwosu and President Babangida fooled the 18 million Nigerians who voted,” Oshiomhole stated. “If he was afraid of the gun because we were under a dictatorship, some people might say, ‘Well, there were Nigerians who protested under the gun without minding the consequences.’”
He further argued that Nwosu had ample opportunity to rectify his silence after Nigeria transitioned to democracy but never did.
“After the end of Babangida’s tenure, the death of Abiola, and the birth of the new democracy that produced President Obasanjo, I would have expected Nwosu to say—either on his birthday or on a special occasion—‘I couldn’t declare these numbers then, but now, on my record, Abiola won this election. I just wasn’t able to announce it,’” he remarked.
Oshiomhole insisted that Nwosu’s silence, even in later years, disqualified him from being honored.
“He died without confession; he cannot be rewarded,” he asserted, warning against rewriting history to celebrate someone who, in his view, lacked the courage to uphold the truth.
The discussion arose from a motion sponsored by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), which sought to acknowledge Nwosu’s role in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
However, Oshiomhole stood firm, maintaining that true heroism would have meant declaring Abiola’s victory, regardless of the risks. Since Nwosu failed to do so, he argued, he should not be celebrated.
