JUNE 12 LIKELY TO. GET NEW ROLE IN NATION’S POLITICAL CALENDAR

In a related legislative initiative, the National Assembly is also pushing to institutionalise the president’s annual State of the Nation address, with a proposed law making June 12 the official day for its delivery before a joint session of the legislature.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the idea is to create a consistent national tradition that ensures accountability from the executive branch while commemorating the historic June 12, 1993, election. “We will bring a bill to address it to ensure that it is institutionalised. People should look forward to it,” Bamidele said.
President Bola Tinubu is expected to deliver this year’s State of the Nation address on Thursday, June 12, 2025, in the National Assembly chambers — a move seen as a prelude to the legislative push.
The annual address is envisioned to mirror the U.S. State of the Union speech, allowing the president to present an overview of national challenges, policy directions, and administrative achievements directly to lawmakers and, by extension, the Nigerian public.
The significance of June 12 as the chosen date is rooted in its political legacy. It commemorates the annulled 1993 election believed to have been won by Chief M.K.O. Abiola and widely regarded as the freest and fairest in Nigerian history. The annulment by General Ibrahim Babangida’s military regime triggered years of civil unrest, which eventually contributed to the return to civilian governance in 1999.
If passed, the legislation would entrench a formal line of communication between Nigeria’s executive and legislative arms and embed June 12 even deeper into the country’s democratic tradition.