The person who has mindset does not know that he is stereotypical and that, to me, is the greatest challenge. Some Nigerians believe that nothing good can come from INEC and this is wrong. They believe that the commission can not conduct free and fair elections. They are dead wrong.
Those who hold this view are unpatriotic, they are those who don?t campaign, they are those politicians who rig elections. But we are ready to oversee free, fair and creditable elections in 2007 and beyond. In 2007, Nigerians should expect surprises. Gone are the days when politicians rigged elections. In 2007, only the electorate on whose thighs sovereignty lays would decide their leaders. And INEC will respect the sanctity of the ballot box. Politicians and political parties that fail to canvass for votes would risk surprises. There is no other way to win than to convince the electorate by selling good manifestoes to the people.
But instead of campaigning, some politicians and political parties go about with a mindset that INEC would rig elections in favor of a particular party. I am nobody?s surrogate.
One of my friends illustrated the problems of mindset this way. A man with a mindset may draw a map of Nigeria and put Kaduna in the
North-East because that is where he wants Kaduna to be. Even if you correct it and tell him that Kaduna should be in the North-West geo-political zone, he may bluntly disagree. So the mindset issue is the greatest problem we have had since I came on board. We are poised to change this mindset, but it will take time for Nigerians to change their attitude and perception of the commission. And that was why I used the metaphor of an elephant and the small boy. The elephant follows the little boy just because of the mindset of the elephant. That is the danger of mindset. Apart from the Rev. Chris Okotie?s Fresh Democratic Party and one other party that are campaigning and selling their manifestoes to Nigerians, the other parties with the exception of PDP are picking holes with anything
INEC does. I believe after INEC must have presided over a free and fair election, those who do not trust the commission would change this dangerous mindset in 2007.
Part of the reason this mindset refuses to die may be as a result of the way you were appointed. Besides, you have no prior experience of conducting a free and fair election.
I told you that I cannot be used or intimidated by anyone. How was my appointment unusual? After Mr. President nominated me, the National
Assembly overwhelmingly approved my appointment. So I didn?t come from the blue. The President did not impose me on Nigerians. The legislature at the national level followed the law of the land and due process to ratify my appointment. If you say I had no background of managing the electoral space you may be right, but don?t forget that I had managed the science world. And as the Vice President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), I was in the forefront of managing human beings, institutions and adding value to the system. Look, managing the electoral system is as simple as ABC if the problem of mindset is solved.
As INEC chairman, all eyes are on you. The international community is waiting to see how you will conduct the 2007 elections. Are you overwhelmed by this burden of history?
I am not overwhelmed. But I am conscious of that fact. I know that the commission?s actions, inactions and the manner we conduct the 2007 elections can make or mar the nation. I have the belief that 2007 will mark a new dawn. It will provide the opportunity to consolidate the democratic gains we have had for the past seven years. We have put our economy as a nation in order. All we need is convince ourselves that we can do it. If we do it right, you will not recognize this country in 2008.
Nigeria is the biggest market in Africa. So, whether any foreign power likes it or not we are an economic power to reckon with. I say these because people don?t know that elections can fix roads, economy, build hospitals and so on.
Secondly, I am not overwhelmed because I don?t have a camp commandant mentality. I see my job in a simple manner. Nigeria is like a bunch of flowers. The job of INEC is to provide the rope. We don?t even conduct elections. There are 500,000 people. All INEC does is to coordinate the management instruments. Five thousand out of 500,000 is just one per cent of 500,000. So we shall make sure we pick credible people who would be administrators at the polls. That is why I am asking professionals, academics, journalists and civil society groups to volunteer as honorific adhoc staff of INEC for just a week to administer or monitor the polls.
Besides, I have a team. I started with a formidable team of 12 National
Commissioners knitted together. Each one of them can enunciate the same philosophy that I have told you. We debate on issues, analyse them and arrive at policy directives within the limit of the law. Let me give you an example: when we wanted to arrive at a date for the 2007 elections, the operation department turned in their proposal, the legal people sat down to agree and disagree on some of the proposals. You can see that during the press conference, I spoke about the law as if I am a lawyer. I spoke like that because I was briefed. To answer your question, I see myself as first amongst equals in a group that is poised to conduct credible, free and fair elections that would be unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. I am a team player, I am not a lone ranger and that was why I said I don?t have a camp commandant attitude.
How do you cope with the pressure of office? There is a lot of pressure on me. I am under pressure. But it is not in terms of people. The pressure does not stem from the demand of office. The pressure is essentially a logistic problem which nags all chief executives. The fact that this is a game I don?t have a second chance to perform, I must fine-tune, fine-tune and fine-tune. To get the best piles a lot of pressure on me. You must have Plan A, Plan B and Plan C to achieve results. Let me give you an example. People thought we were too keen on the electronic voting machine (EVM). They believed we didn?t have options. In August 2005 when I introduced this concept, I said we were only introducing technology and that we were going to introduce a pilot, which was supposed to have ended by now, and then resort to Nigerians to know whether the EVM can be used in 2007 or not. But because of our due process regime, because of our procurement policy and the debate on the constitution at the National Assembly, INEC could not do the pilot. However, we are not hindered by the people who accused us of having hidden agenda to rig election for PDP. We only wanted to do a pilot on selected polling sites to show Nigerians that INEC has options for Nigerians in the future. If we have hidden agenda, then the National Assembly dominated by the PDP lawmakers wouldn?t have opposed the EVM all through. But our critics didn?t see through these discordant tunes that INEC is on its own. I am not the type that does not plan. If I were the chairman of the commission earlier, I would have concluded the voters? registration in 2005. And this could only have been possible by meticulous planning. INEC is crucial to the political system. Are you saying that politicians don?t pile pressure on you? So far, none. We have cordial working relationship with the politicians across party divides. Because our jobs is to serve them. There is however pressure from political interest groups. There are people who would want to manipulate the system, manipulate the journalists. Some political groups fly a kite by selling a story idea to the media that they know is not correct. But we know that as the 2007 election is drawing close, they (politicians) will mount pressure on us. But we shall be transparent in all we do and the commission hopes that the politicians would reciprocate our due process. I will give you an example. Six weeks after we were appointed, some political interest groups sponsored a campaign of calumny against us. I call it media terrorism. From a purely technical point of view, I knew somebody was trying to attack my psychological inspiration. So I took vacation by traveling abroad because I never wanted to read the trash. I call it trash because I had not even settled down to work, yet they started attacking me. These interest groups have nothing to offer Nigerians and that is why they heat up the system and strive to discredit INEC. That is why I advise the media not to give prominence to these alarmist groups. They can criticize INEC but they should not create the impression that Nigeria is unmanageable. If somebody says he does not like me because I am short, I will not give a damn. If a person has grievance with INEC, elections and party politics, I will listen. If somebody from Imo State says he does not like me or if he thinks that because I am from Imo State he cannot be qualified to run as president, I have no answer. Because anybody appointed chairman of INEC must come from a state in Nigeria. Why do you think Nigerians are suspicious of you right from the outset? It is mindset. Something is fundamentally wrong with the people. Somebody who is always crooked thinks that everybody he meets is a thief. Anybody who sees my track record and background and concludes that I am not trustworthy, I think something is wrong with him. Without sounding arrogant, I think our system should be congratulated for persuading me to serve my fatherland. I have not come to INEC to accumulate. There is no trapping that would accrue to me for accepting this job, except the satisfaction that I have served my fatherland or that I did not restrict myself to the narrow province of my discipline. And that is why I have told people that if I say vote for me, don?t, because I am not a politician. Nothing is wrong with politicians but I can?t be one because I am not disposed to seeking elective office as a result of my blunt nature. Nigerian politics is not yet ripe for a very transparent and blunt person like Maurice. What about pressure from the presidency? The belief is that you are not independent of the Executive arm. I am not holding brief for the presidency. The system we have is the toughest in the world. The entire Senate had to confirm my appointment even though it was known for rejecting appointments in the past. I am not holding brief for Obasanjo, but let us go down memory lane. In 1979, I was in this country. People speculated that nothing would make him not to hand over power to Awolowo. But did he? No. If somebody has shown rare courage in the past, for goodness sake, Nigerians should believe him. I believe that Obasanjo cannot arm-twist INEC or foist his desires down the throat of the commission. Anybody who wins will be declared winner and INEC will award him/her certificate. I believe Obasanjo will hand over to whoever wins. As military head of state, Obasanjo, against popular speculation handed over to Alhaji Shehu Shagari in 1979 because he (Shagari) won and not Awolowo. This is democracy and I don?t see why Obasanjo will impose a president on Nigeria, impossible. Secondly, we are putting in place a system that would make it fool-proof for a secondary school boy to conduct election as a result of some of the technologies we are proposing, because all he needs is to press a button. But the mindset of crookery sold to Nigerians by a few politicians is that every chief executive is crooked and a lackey of Obasanjo. But are you not aware that the President nearly succeeded in manipulating the constitution to pave way for his third term? So why do you say he cannot foist his desires on Nigeria in 2007? Thank God you said he nearly succeeded. But did the third term clause sail through at the National Assembly? The same in-built system that killed the tenure elongation clause is at INEC. The commission is ready to do the biddings of Nigerians and not any individual. After all, the President did not tell anybody he wanted third tern and I don?t think the Obasanjo I know would have accepted to stand election in 2007 if that clause had been amended. In the case of Anambra governorship and National Assembly elections, observers believe you were under intense pressure to bend the rules to favor the presidency and the Uba brothers? The Anambra case was just a bad case of the 36 states. For me, it was a pass mark for Nigeria because there was confusion and long litigation only in Anambra governorship election. Chris Ngige did not win the election. It is only in Nigeria that somebody who rigged election would be bold and talk as if he had the mandate of the people. If it were the developed world, he would have hidden his face in shame. He admitted he did not win the election. So when the lower tribunal ruled against Ngige, INEC should have shouted hallelujah since we believe he didn?t win or since the powers that be wanted him removed. But INEC objected. The ruling of the court was not consistent. That was why we appealed against the ruling of the lower court and INEC was lambasted. But as soon as the appellate court quashed the appeal of Ngige, INEC awarded victory to Peter Obi, INEC didn?t begrudge Obi. I congratulated Obi and apologized for all the pains he had gone through. We gave him the certificate of return openly. In the case of Jerry Ugokwe and Christian Okeke in the Anambra House of Representatives tussle, I come from a background that I was harassed. I suffered a lot of injustice when I was a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I was bruised on several occasions to the effect that my fundamental human rights were trampled upon. So I have a bias for human rights. Ugokwe accused the government of the Federal Republic of violating his human rights. He said after Okeke took him to court, they did not allow him have access to an attorney. He had an attorney who walked out on him in anger. He wanted to replace him and the tribunal refused. Instead, the court said it had heard all it wanted to hear in summary and the judges gave judgement in favour of Okeke. We felt that was unfair to Ugokwe. He went to ECOWAS Court to enforce his rights. So my lawyers said we should wait for the outcome of the ECOWAS
Court. Nigeria had just acceded to that treaty that established that court. So there was no prior case that court had adjudicated on from our country. That handicapped us because we had no judicial precedent to fall back on. That was why INEC lawyers advised that we should hold on until the ECOWAS Court does justice to the matter. Besides, the decision not to give Okeke had been taken by my predecessor. Mine was to either upturn his decision or sustain it. But as soon as we realized that it was an endless battle, we issued Okeke the certificate and withdrew Ugokwe?s. It was an endless thing because both the defence and prosecution teams asked for adjournment when the matter appeared in the ECOWAS Court and this raised suspicions. INEC quickly signed Okeke?s certificate of return and he has since joined his colleagues at the lower chamber of the National Assembly. The same people who were citing that case refused to talk about it when Okeke was returned. That we had such a case in a big country like Nigeria shows that our system is working.INEC went to the appellate court and canvassed that Ngige?s victory should be quashed on grounds that neither him nor Obi won the governorship election. But the same INEC had defended Ngige?s victory at the lower tribunal. Is this not a contradiction and proof that you are being influenced from above? If you had followed that case, you would realize that facts available to INEC at the lower tribunal were sparse. At the upper tribunal, we had more facts and that was why we changed our position that Ngige did not win. I will give you some of the facts. The issue was that the lower tribunal cancelled many wards. Our argument was that since those wards were actually void, then it meant that given that these wards were cancelled, it was impossible to have a winner. That is the law. But as soon as the upper court upheld the ruling of the lower tribunal, we gave Obi the certificate of return the next day. INEC makes mistakes; the most important thing is how we correct it. At INEC retreat in Calabar, you said the commission was reviewing its operations. What are these reviews all about? Before I joined INEC, the reviews were ongoing. One of our biggest problems was the voters? register, which was clumsy. We could not complete the electronic voter register before 2003. So we used a mixture of both electronic and manual registers and that was why we saw some people doing multiple voting, because the register was not proper. The current leadership of the commission would tackle it. The other area is adhoc staff. We shall evolve a better way of recruiting, training and retraining them ? capacity building. We also looked at how best to stop violence before, during and after elections. When we talk about electoral violence, some people think we mean pouring acid on people or operation wetie. Violence goes beyond that. The fact that you have military police or thugs positioned at the premises of your political opponents is intimidating enough and it is only if such persons are foolish that they would come out. Then, the logistics was a cause of worry. When I said the 2003 election was successful but that the credibility problem was that of logistics, the media twisted it upside down and told the world that I said the election was not credible. I did not mean that. What I said was that elections in 2003 were characterized by logistic problems. Polling officers could not deliver polling materials to the polling stations until Election Day because nobody trusted the other. Materials were moving from Abuja to all states of the federation on election day even when it is glaring that we don?t have that kind of infrastructure to facilitate quick delivery of such sensitive materials on election day. And we don?t have the mindset in Nigeria to trust people. So we have decided to decentralize our stores so that electoral materials can get to the polling stations as and when due. If we have banks all over, why can?t we have secured stores? The other issue is the transmission of the results. As simple as it looks, it has always been difficult because sometimes, the result came too late and that spawns suspicion. So we want to bridge the gap between the end of polling and announcement of results. In 2007, there will be instantaneous transmission of results to ward off suspicion. We also reviewed our capacity building. We have established the Electoral Institute to train not only our staff, but the adhoc staff on honorific capacity so that we can raise the quality of our manpower. In all, we shall have a reliable register that can identify the person or voter on the polling day. The developed countries have mechanism for checking fraud in voting. But with the electronic voter registration, we shall get there in 2007. Most of the malpractices in the 2003 elections arose from logistics. I was not in INEC before the elections but I knew the problem was logistics. Nigerian politics is about thuggery and monetization of the electoral process. How prepared is INEC to tackle these monsters? INEC cannot tackle it alone. The question you should have asked was: How prepared are Nigerians in tackling these monsters? Our job is to sensitize Nigerians on the danger these vices pose to our polity. Because I believe if Nigerians are well informed, they can take useful decisions that can shape the destiny of this country. Already, we are organizing workshops and symposia that would suggest how to curb these monsters. The police, the judiciary and all Nigerians should work closely with INEC because we can?t do it alone. Equally, we have made some inputs in the 2004 Electoral bill before the National Assembly. The proposal put a ceiling on the amount of money people and political parties are allowed to contribute to campaigns and elections. We have also submitted proposals on how to properly monitor party funds and penalties were also stipulated in that bill. We are waiting for it to be passed. That takes us to APGA crisis. Part of the reason the Chekwas Okorie leadership was sacked was alleged financial misappropriation. That presupposes that INEC audited APGA accounts. The commission did not make it public yet it went ahead to remove Okorie. That is interesting. My leadership did not take sides with any faction. That matter was concluded before I was appointed. What INEC did was to affirm that APGA followed its own constitution in removing Okorie as party chairman. And we asked them to organize their convention as soon as possible. We also okayed the appointment of Victor Umeh as acting chairman. So we only affirmed that the party followed its constitution in removing Okorie and that was in accordance with our laws regulating parties. We did not delve into their finances in the case of Okorie. There are law enforcement agencies that are charged with the responsibility of investigating funds. The party did what it did because it believes one of its own did wrong. If the National Chairman is removed, one of the deputy national chairmen should be the natural successor by law. So how come INEC affirmed the appointment of Umeh who was the National Treasurer at the time. Anybody, even an ordinary member, can be acting chairman of the political party. Is there any school you go to, to be chairman of any political party? I am not aware. You also know that there is zoning in this country. I think APGA zoned the National Chairmanship to the South-East. And that may be why Umeh emerged. But remember he is only acting. That is why I am surprised at the way the Okorie faction is taking it. If they feel it was not right for Umeh to be acting chairman, during the party?s convention, they can reverse it. Why has the commission settled for the 2003 Electoral Act in fixing election date in 2007 though it did not provide enough time for litigations? It is not true that we used the Act as guide in releasing the time frame of the 2007 elections. What we used was the 1999 Constitution. And that cannot be changed by Act. In choosing April 7 to 28 April, 2007, we relied on section 132 (2) of the 1999 Constitution which says the election of president should be held ?not earlier than 60 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of the office (May 29, 2007)? So our hands are tied by the constitution and we cannot go outside that narrow window. Secondly, we have not released time table for 2007 elections, what we have released is time line for the elections. Any time we are ready with time table, it will contain the sequence of the elections with their dates. The constitution is supreme and the Electoral Act is secondary to it. Therefore, we cannot work against the constitution. Why has your leadership retained the INEC staff who were found guilty of rigging election for politicians in 2003? It is not true that those INEC staff found guilty were not punished. I don?t have the details now but I know that they were not spared. Secondly, I did say that only one per cent of those that conducted that election are INEC staff. The remaining 99 per cent are adhoc staff. In 2007 for example, we shall recruit people who are traceable to well known institutions so that we can hold them accountable if they violate the law. We want to make electoral offence punishable. But the interesting thing is that punishing offenders is not our job. But are the relevant agencies ready to do their jobs? For example in Imo and Ondo states? by-elections, the speakers were involved in some electoral offences. We reported them to the police for investigation and possible arrest. Up till now, nothing has happened about it. INEC can only hand over defaulters to the police for prosecution but if the police fail to rise up to the challenge, what can INEC do? The by-election in Ekiti State was allegedly violent and fraudulent as was the case in Imo. What did INEC do about it? The simple truth was that there was violence. And I think it would not happen again. We have written the Police IG on the roles of the two speakers. In the case of Ondo, we dissociated ourselves from the outcome of that by-election. But we could not annul it because by law, once the Returning Officer declares election results or the winner, nobody can cancel it even if it is wrong. This was exactly what happened in Anambra elections in 2003. In Imo by-election, we cancelled two wards because of the level of violence involved. But we still went ahead to declare the results since we had valid votes from the remaining wards. In the case of Ekiti, I wouldn?t talk about it because there was mismanagement of electoral process. There was no need for violence. One of the groups had pulled out from the election. So the other group would have been elected unopposed. So why the violence? So why didn?t you push for the removal of that clause in the Act that validates any result declared by the returning officer? We did not make a case for that in the new bill. But we shall address that during elections this time around because the cases in Ondo, Imo, Ekiti and Anambra states actually embarrassed INEC. But if really you are poised to hold free, fair and rancour-free elections, you should have amended that clause in the new Electoral bill pending before the National Assembly. We shall handle that internally. Will INEC allow political parties to video-record the 2007 elections? We have not taken such decision. But if we must do that, we must know for what purpose, because of the security implications involved. Somebody can take pictures of ballot papers that were used in Ghana and misconstrue it to mean another thing. We have not reached that stage yet and video-recording elections have not crossed my mind. Nowadays, pictures lie you know. In any case, we have put in measures to curb electoral malpractices. I talked of the electoral institute, and the electronic voters register. I said the register would give out a card that would have both the picture and fingerprint of voters. The ballot papers would have the photo of the candidate. I also told you that we shall have zonal stores to be able to erase the logistic nightmares I had mentioned. I did tell you we shall regulate the amount of money pumped into the polity. We also have the mechanism to transmit the election results in a timely manner through the electronic interface. I also assured Nigerians that we shall not use Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) for the 2007 elections because it is not backed up by law. These coupled with the international observers/monitors can guarantee credible elections without going into video-recording. Are you satisfied with the level of funding of INEC? We have a budget that is adequate for conducting elections. We have a reasonable level of funding. But the funding is not the problem per se but the release of funds. What do you have to say about INEC?s meddlesomeness in Alliance for Democracy (AD) affairs? INEC did not recognize the Senator Akinfenwa faction. Secondly, INEC observed the Lagos convention that threw up Bisi Akande as National Chairman of AD. Three, INEC is a human organization. Our attention was called to a court order which we did not know of. These courts are very insistent on contempt. The order said the status quo should remain, meaning that none of the two factions would be recognized. In other words, only the leadership of the party that existed before the factionalization would be recognized. I advise AD to go to the court and tell the judges that they want to settle the matter out of court. And the court would appoint an arbitrator and the matter would be resolved. If they want INEC to be arbitrators, we shall do just that and within one week, the matter would be over and AD will be reunited. Alternatively, if the two factions want the old Executive that was there before the division to organize a convention to elect a new National Working Committee (NWC) of the party. If you see what we put in to resolve political crises in the parties you will appreciate us because we want to see a vibrant and not crises-torn political system. As I talk to you, the case is still in the court. AD is a very strong party and we are sad that it is in crisis. You were a controversial Vice President of ASUU in the 1980s. We also heard that you left UNN unceremoniously. What really happened? There was no controversy surrounding my stewardship and the way I left UNN. What happened was that Babangida regime proscribed ASUU and in 1992, I traveled abroad on a sabbatical for one year. I had so many projects to do. I saw that I couldn?t have completed them in one year. So I returned to Nigeria and resigned my appointment with the university. What is your relationship with the Uba brothers in Anambra? I have answered this many times. I have deliberately refused to talk about myself and family. I reluctantly talked about my university days. What is important is my character. I am the kind of person that if you tell me to do something, I will ask you why. Intimidation would not change me. My major weakness is that I have a fanatical clinging to the truth. It may not appear glamorous and pleasant. My relationship with the Ubas has nothing to do with the discharge of my duties. At my age, there is no president in Nigeria that I don?t directly or indirectly know because I am of similar age bracket with all of them. In any case, at my age, I don?t discuss people but issues. Why are people more mconcerned about the Ubas? In Nigeria, we are very selective in what we do and say. I am very friendly to one of the governors in the north. Everybody knows how close that governor is to the powers that be. But nobody cares to ask, they only ask about Uba brothers. In any case, to be my friend in this administration is a handicap. People who know me well can swear that I will make it more difficult for my friends for the purpose of showing the world that I am not biased. Being my friend means closer scrutiny because I will remain impartial. My friends don?t see my appointment as an advantage but an opportunity for them to always respect my bluntness and honesty of purpose. You have assured us of a credible election in 2007. If the powers that be pile pressure on you to manipulate elections for them, will you resign? I am not a quitter. Why a person should put me under pressure. It is that person that should resign. I am a Nigerian and this country belongs to all of us. I will resign when the constitution says that I can no longer function as chairman. I cannot corrupt myself or my office. So why should I resign? I have tenacity of purpose. I want to be remembered as a man who delivered a free, fair and credible elections to Nigerians in 2007 and by 2010 when my tenure would expire, me and my colleagues can say we served our fatherland well
What is your relationship with the Uba brothers in Anambra?
I have answered this many times. I have deliberately refused to talk about myself and family. I reluctantly talked about my university days.
What is important is my character. I am the kind of person that if you tell me to do something, I will ask you why. Intimidation would not change me. My major weakness is that I have a fanatical clinging to the truth. It may not appear glamorous and pleasant. My relationship with the Ubas has nothing to do with the discharge of my duties. At my age, there is no president in Nigeria that I don?t directly or indirectly know because I am of similar age bracket with all of them. In any case, at my age, I don?t discuss people but issues. Why are people more mconcerned about the Ubas? In Nigeria, we are very selective in what we do and say. I am very friendly to one of the governors in the north. Everybody knows how close that governor is to the powers that be. But nobody cares to ask, they only ask about Uba brothers. In any case, to be my friend in this administration is a handicap. People who know me well can swear that I will make it more difficult for my friends for the purpose of showing the world that I am not biased. Being my friend means closer scrutiny because I will remain impartial. My friends don?t see my appointment as an advantage but an opportunity for them to always respect my bluntness and honesty of purpose.
You have assured us of a credible election in 2007. If the powers that be pile pressure on you to manipulate elections for them, will you resign?
I am not a quitter. Why a person should put me under pressure. It is that person that should resign. I am a Nigerian and this country belongs to all of us. I will resign when the constitution says that I can no longer function as chairman. I cannot corrupt myself or my office. So why should I resign? I have tenacity of purpose. I want to be remembered as a man who delivered a free, fair and credible elections to Nigerians in 2007 and by 2010 when my tenure would expire, me and my colleagues can say we served our fatherland well.
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