Obi, Abubakar Umar Mourn former Chairman of NEC, Humphrey Nwosu

Chuks Okocha in Abuja 

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, and former military Governor of Kaduna State, Col. AbubakarDangiwaUmar (rtd) have described the late former Chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, as an exceptional electoral umpire who was ready to risk his life for democracy.

In a statement by his spokesman, Ibrahim Umar, the former governor of Anambra State, in a short tribute, said he was a principled academic who brought to bear in his job the principle he taught in the classroom as a political scientist.

In his message titled: ‘In Prof. Nwosu, A True Democrat Exits,’ Obi in X handle, described the former NEC boss as “a true democrat, an outstanding academician whose love for democracy and its values was copiously demonstrated in the way and manner he carried out his responsibilities as an electoral umpire between 1989  to 1993.

“His courageous defence of democratic principles, even under a non-democratic government, put him out as a man who was ready even to sacrifice his life for the sake of democracy and good governance.

“For his pivotal role in holding and upholding the 1993 presidential elections, Prof. Nwosu’s name will remain indelible in the history of Nigerian democracy.  He stood for the truth In Nigeria for standing for the truth and the best tenets of democracy when it was delicate and even dangerous to do so.

“It’s, however, disheartening to note that what Prof. Nwosu did when the nation’s electoral commission was not even legally independent and when billions of taxpayers’ money was not deployed as it is today with an accompanying updated technology could not be repeated in contemporary times in a supposed full democratic system,” Obi explained.

On his part, Umar said Nigeria has lost a great citizen, whom he described as an intellectual giant, an honest and dedicated public servant.

Umar described Nwosu as an honest, dutiful, and self-effacing leader who supervised the conduct of the freest and fairest presidential election on June 12, 1993.

Umar said Nwosu fought tenaciously and valiantly to avert the annulment of the results of that election even at the risk of his life and lost that battle by watching helplessly as his work was trashed on June 26, 1993, when the military annulled the results of the election. 

“I met Prof Nwosu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja during the June 12 presidential election crisis.  I found him to be an honest, dutiful, and self-effacing NEC Chairman.

“He supervised the conduct of the freest and fairest presidential election on June 12, 1993, and fought tenaciously and valiantly to avert the annulment of the results of that election even at the risk of his life.”

Umar added: “I bear witness that Professor Nwosu vehemently disagreed with that decision and honourably retired in protest.

“Nigeria has lost a great citizen, an intellectual giant, an honest and dedicated public servant. May God have mercy on his soul.”