March 21, 2010
Make your votes count (MYVC), has resolved to work with other civil society groups to moblise Nigerians to boycott the 2011 general elections if the current chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr. Maurice Iwu, is not removed from office.
If Mr. Iwu had any iota of shame, he would have resigned honourably. But that will be asking for too much from a man who has consistently subverted the will of Nigerians, but who recently was reported to have said that subversive elements were threatening democracy in Nigeria.
Mr. Iwu, in his delusion, thinks he is the bastion of democracy when indeed he is the greatest threat to our democracy. Last week, in his characteristic presumptuous manner, he hurriedly rolled out the timetable for the 2011 general elections.
Mr. Iwu’s latest ploy is to give the impression that he is an experienced electoral umpire, that there is very little time before the 2011 elections, and therefore he should be allowed to continue as chairman of INEC. A few Nigerians will be tempted to buy into Mr. Iwu’s gambit, but clearly he has outlived his usefulness. Mr. Iwu is simply incorrigible and can’t be trusted to hold free and fair elections.
Since Mr. Iwu is not a man of honour, we have resorted to the only option open to us: From Monday, March 22, 2010, we shall mobilise Nigerians to commence a daily two-hour protest at INEC headquarters in Abuja with the sole aim of ensuring that Iwu is removed from office.
Maurice Iwu has sufficiently demonstrated that he is more committed to serving his personal interest and that of crooked politicians than serving Nigerians.
The most urgent problem facing Nigeria today is how to ensure free, fair and credible elections. If we are interested in sustaining our democracy, and indeed the survival of our country; if we are truly committed to having our votes determine those who should govern us, the likes of Iwu should not be allowed to oversee elections in Nigeria ever again.
Those who say the problem is not Mr. Iwu miss the point. Our position is that Mr. Iwu lacks the capacity to conduct credible elections. When you have an electoral umpire who is not committed to democracy or the rule of law, nobody will be inclined to obey the rules of the game.
Mr. Iwu supervised the 2007 general elections, the worst elections in the country’s history; he surpassed himself in infamy two years later with the re-run election in Ekiti State, in 2009; and he raised his pseudo-democratic inclinations a notch with the gubernatorial election in Anambra State early this year.
Let’s make no mistake, this mass action is not just about Mr. Iwu; rather, it is about having an electoral umpire that will guarantee free and fair elections in Nigeria. We would like to use this opportunity to sound a note of warning to whoever will replace Mr. Iwu as the INEC chair that it would no longer be business as usual.
We shall tackle the next INEC chair with the same urgency and seriousness we have adopted in the case of Mr. Iwu.
The votes of the people must begin to count in Nigeria. A new Nigeria is possible!
Chido Onumah
Coordinator, Makeyourvotescount.org
If Mr. Iwu had any iota of shame, he would have resigned honourably. But that will be asking for too much from a man who has consistently subverted the will of Nigerians, but who recently was reported to have said that subversive elements were threatening democracy in Nigeria.
Mr. Iwu, in his delusion, thinks he is the bastion of democracy when indeed he is the greatest threat to our democracy. Last week, in his characteristic presumptuous manner, he hurriedly rolled out the timetable for the 2011 general elections.
Mr. Iwu’s latest ploy is to give the impression that he is an experienced electoral umpire, that there is very little time before the 2011 elections, and therefore he should be allowed to continue as chairman of INEC. A few Nigerians will be tempted to buy into Mr. Iwu’s gambit, but clearly he has outlived his usefulness. Mr. Iwu is simply incorrigible and can’t be trusted to hold free and fair elections.
Since Mr. Iwu is not a man of honour, we have resorted to the only option open to us: From Monday, March 22, 2010, we shall mobilise Nigerians to commence a daily two-hour protest at INEC headquarters in Abuja with the sole aim of ensuring that Iwu is removed from office.
Maurice Iwu has sufficiently demonstrated that he is more committed to serving his personal interest and that of crooked politicians than serving Nigerians.
The most urgent problem facing Nigeria today is how to ensure free, fair and credible elections. If we are interested in sustaining our democracy, and indeed the survival of our country; if we are truly committed to having our votes determine those who should govern us, the likes of Iwu should not be allowed to oversee elections in Nigeria ever again.
Those who say the problem is not Mr. Iwu miss the point. Our position is that Mr. Iwu lacks the capacity to conduct credible elections. When you have an electoral umpire who is not committed to democracy or the rule of law, nobody will be inclined to obey the rules of the game.
Mr. Iwu supervised the 2007 general elections, the worst elections in the country’s history; he surpassed himself in infamy two years later with the re-run election in Ekiti State, in 2009; and he raised his pseudo-democratic inclinations a notch with the gubernatorial election in Anambra State early this year.
Let’s make no mistake, this mass action is not just about Mr. Iwu; rather, it is about having an electoral umpire that will guarantee free and fair elections in Nigeria. We would like to use this opportunity to sound a note of warning to whoever will replace Mr. Iwu as the INEC chair that it would no longer be business as usual.
We shall tackle the next INEC chair with the same urgency and seriousness we have adopted in the case of Mr. Iwu.
The votes of the people must begin to count in Nigeria. A new Nigeria is possible!
Chido Onumah
Coordinator, Makeyourvotescount.org
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