Professor Humphrey Nwosu, the chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), now known as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), from 1989 to 1993 has been confirmed dead.

Nwosu, born on October 2, 1941, breathed his last in a Virginia hospital in the United States.

As the chief electoral officer, Nwosu conducted the historic June 12, 1993, presidential election, widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest poll. The election saw Chief Moshood Abiola, candidate of the Social Democratic Party, emerge victorious, defeating Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention.

Nwosu released many of the election results despite being ordered to stop by the Ibrahim Babangida military regime. The election was later annulled.