ABUJA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria will hold a low-key presidential inauguration ceremony on May 29 "to save cost," minister of information Lai Mohammed said on Monday.
Mohammed told a press conference in Abuja that the low-key ceremony being organized to kick off President Muhammadu Buhari's second term in office became necessary as "the country can ill-afford two major celebrations within a two-week interval."
Instead of an elaborate presidential inauguration on May 29, he said, the Federal Government has invited world leaders for the maiden June 12 Democracy Day celebration in the country.
A number of the events earlier slated for the May 29 presidential inauguration had been moved to June 12 Democracy Day, said the government's spokesman, noting the official commencement of the new Democracy Day in 2019 is in fulfillment of a declaration by President Buhari in 2018.
June 12, now declared a national holiday, is remembered in Nigeria as the day in which a presidential election adjudged the "most free and fair" was held in 1993. The election was later annulled by then military president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
Activities marking the June 12 Democracy Day celebration would kick off on June 7, while a historical exhibition in arts, pictures, and immersive environment would run through June 12, Mohammed said.
"June 12 will start off with a parade at the Eagle Square (in Abuja) and the Democracy Day program will be wrapped up with a dinner and gala night at the State House," he added.
