It is no longer in doubt that the most fraudulent Electoral officer in our nation’s history so far is Maurice Iwu. He has broken all records in overseeing an electoral body whose second name is fraud. Iwu till date is the most partial and partisan INEC chairman that has made nonsense of the name ‘Independent’ being given to the body which to all intents and purposes is anything but independent. INEC is clearly an arm of the ruling Peoples Democratic party. That Iwu is still in office after the disgraceful outing of his outfit in 2007 and most recently in Ekiti shows how much shame is in short supply at the corridors of power in this country. I know Iwu is shameless and this is beyond question. But President Yardua himself is a hypocrite as far as Iwu’s case is concerned. If he admitted to the whole world that the election which brought him into power was far from perfect, he has by the same statement indicted Iwu and his commission. The next step he ought to have taken after this admission was to have sacked Iwu immediately. I therefore accuse the President of inconsistency, ill-will and insincerity.
The fact that Iwu has foisted an electoral heist on Nigeria is borne out by the facts. Both National and international observers and monitors did not only confirm this, they also went as far as saying that the elections fell short of our standard in this country because past elections were far better than the electoral disaster the lethal combination of Iwu and Obasanjo brought on us in 2007. Just look at the various re-run elections in different states in the country since Iwu’s inglorious outing in 2007. It was sheer landslide victory for the PDP. This means that Yardua is keeping him there to ensure stolen victories for his party. I will not want to contest the fact that Yardua may be a good person in his own right (I hope he is) but he is plain incompetent and his party has nothing to offer the people of this country. It is a party of thugs, thieves and unconscionable people. This is why Yar’adua and anybody from that party for that matter should not be trusted.
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If you examine how Iwu came into office, you should not be surprised about what he has done or is still capable of doing. This Professor of pharmacy was brought into office by the Uba brothers whose antecedent is well-known to most Nigerians as anything but good. The story of how he faked a curative drug for Ebola virus for which he claimed many grants was on Sahara reporters.com. This was where we started getting it all wrong. Upon all the credible men and women in this country, outstanding jurists, professors of political science, wonderful civil servants and so on, how can we settle for this kind of character? So, right from the beginning, Iwu’s mission was clear. He was hired to do a hatchet job which he has so far done to the utmost satisfaction and admiration of his masters in the ruling PDP. But what has continued to amaze me is the sheer hypocrisy of our elite and their unwillingness to throw in the towel when it is crystal clear that the game is up. What happened? Instead of him to resign, he has taken more pleasure in rubbing it in that he did his best in conducting free and fair elections. How are we to understand this man? He sounds like a deluded creature overdue for seeing a psychiatrist. He has even gone to the ludicrous dimension of recommending that America should learn from us as far organizing credible elections are concerned. This is a clear manifestation of mental sickness. The man has no respect for Nigerians and he even extends it to America. Did we ever hear that during Obama’s election ballot boxes were carried away or that figures were inflated or that any of the anomalies that plagued our 2007 elections took place? Yet the insult is not over. Iwu has humiliated us to the degree of forcing us to take electoral lessons from Ghana. What a shame!
One cannot but be happy that various bodies like labour and the NBA are beginning to sound it out loud and clear to the President that Iwu must go and go he must. Femi Falana has charged him to court for fraud. All these efforts are highly commended. Men of God and men of women of integrity must join in mobilizing Nigerians against the renewal of Iwu’s tenure. My main worry is that with a mangled, fraudulent, violence-ridden electoral process, Nigerians cannot have the right kind of leaders who can give good leadership which Nigerians are desperately in need of. Imposed leaders who are products of a shoddy electoral process cannot fight for the welfare of the people. It is why we have nothing to show after ten years of democracy. Yar’dua himself did not win any election and I don’t care what the Supreme Court says about it. From the top, it filters down to the grassroots. Rigging is largely responsible for the high degree of government’s insensitivity in this country. After all, if leaders and representatives of the people are aware that the votes will count and they would one day return to ask for the votes of their people, they will be more responsive to their plight. In the final analysis, what we have largely is a bunch of impostors claiming to be leaders. It is why our roads are bad, why there is no electricity, massive unemployment, no pipe borne water and other amenities. Instead of having unelected leaders posturing as elected and occupying positions of authority where serious policy issues are discussed and decided, is it not better to hand over Nigeria back to the British? If this option is not palatable, then we must get our act together. Just like what Oshiomole and Mimiko said recently, elections must be won at the ballot box and not in the courts. It is a sign of a dysfunctional state and democracy.
I know the president has said that he will not, as a matter of principle, renew the tenure of any public official whose tenure expires. If he is consistent which he is not, then he will and should not renew the tenure of Iwu. I know he will not do this because he needs him to rig the elections for him and the ruling party in 2011. In the same vein, Yar’adua himself should not seek a second term but I know he will. The point is that the man is fundamentally insincere. If we must be sincere with ourselves let us agree that Maurice Iwu’s INEC has done enough harm to our democracy and electioneering process and he is bent on doing more. It is time to show him the door and there is not better time to do it than now.
Fr. Emmanuel Ogundele is with the Department of Philosophy, Ss. Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan.
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