Professor Humphrey Nwosu, former chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), now known as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has passed away. Nwosu, who was born on October 2, 1941, died in a Virginia hospital in the United States.
Nwosu served as the chief electoral officer from 1989 to 1993 and is best remembered for overseeing Nigeria’s historic June 12, 1993, presidential election. This election, widely regarded as the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history, saw Chief Moshood Abiola of the Social Democratic Party emerge as the winner, defeating Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention.
Despite orders from the military regime led by General Ibrahim Babangida to halt the announcement of results, Nwosu released a significant portion of the election outcomes before the poll was controversially annulled.
