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Security presence was visibly beefed up around the National Assembly complex on Thursday morning, ahead of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s appearance before a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives to mark the 2025 Democracy Day.
The President is scheduled to address the lawmakers by noon as part of this year’s activities commemorating 26 years of Nigeria’s uninterrupted democratic rule.
As early as 7:30 a.m., access to the complex was already being heavily controlled.
A combined security team made up of personnel from the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were seen manning strategic entry points, with routine checks intensified and vehicular movement tightly regulated.
Only individuals with special accreditation, including selected journalists, security personnel, and duty-bound National Assembly staff were granted entry into the premises.
On Wednesday, the presidency cancelled the earlier planned national broadcast initially slated for 7 a.m. The decision, according to a statement by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Democracy Day, was informed by President Tinubu’s scheduled address to the lawmakers.
“Due to H.E President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, scheduled attendance at the National Assembly Joint Session, the Presidential National Broadcast on June 12 has been cancelled,” the statement read in part. “President Bola Ahmed will deliver his address from the National Assembly.”
Following his appearance before the legislators, the President is expected to attend a public lecture at 4 p.m. at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja. This year’s theme, “Consolidating on the Gains of Nigeria’s Democracy: Necessity of Enduring Reforms,” reflects growing calls for meaningful democratic reforms across the country.
Democracy Day, once observed on May 29, was shifted to June 12 by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 to honour the memory of the 1993 presidential election, widely considered Nigeria’s fairest and won by the late Moshood Abiola( M.K.O) but controversially annulled.
