ATTAHIRU JEGA: THE INTEGRITY OF A BETRAYER
Justice Mohammed Uwais, the man whose panel’s report on electoral reform was insultingly thrown into the dust bin by President Goodluck Jonathan, had his ‘et tu brute’ (‘even you Brutus’) moment last Saturday, when he stated these immortal words, ‘I am happy for Professor Attahiru Jega, for being nominated to be the chairman of INEC. I know him personally since we worked together on the electoral reform committee, but the method by which he is appointed is not strictly in accordance with the recommendations of the electoral reform committee’.
For an eminent Jurist of Uwais stature, what was more important here is not what he said but what he did not say. Reading between the lines, it is obvious that he found Jega’s appointment revolting for being contrary to his committee’s report. More so, his statement was also loaded with innuendo that Jega is a traitor; otherwise he would not be reminding the world that both he and Jega worked together in the electoral reform committee that came up with the recommendation that INEC chairmen must no longer be appointed by the President in order to insulate the office from party politics. Uwais seems to be wondering why a man like Jega will say one thing today and be singing another tune tomorrow.
This should worry every Nigerian as it speaks volume about the integrity and credibility of the new INEC boss. It portrays him as been weak and unstable as water. At best it makes Jega appear unreliable and untrustworthy. Nigerians may never know what transpired between Jonathan and Jega that caused the latter to lick his own spittle by abandoning his earlier stand. But what Nigerians should be sure about is that in Jega we have an INEC boss who is beholden to Jonathan and whose decision fluctuates with the speed of Jonathan’s thought.
What is more disturbing is Prof. Jega relationship with Prof. Maurice Iwu, his bosom friend of more than twenty years. Iwu was Jega’s vice president during the latter’s tenure as ASUU president in the late nineties. Jega’s consultancy job for INEC under Iwu’s leadership, a job that offers large money for little work in true aluta spirit, should also help Nigerians to understand his persona.
It seems that the battle for electoral reform before 2011 has already been lost. Indeed, we should be grateful to Jonathan for coming out clear that there will not be any electoral reform before 2011. In a statement on Monday, through his press secretary, Ima Niboro, and reported in Daily Trust of Tuesday 15th of June 2010, Jonathan said, ‘However, no matter how we feel about the reforms, the law is the law, and Justice Uwais probably knows this more than the rest of us. For now, the law in place mandates the President to nominate the Chairman and members of the electoral commission, along with state chairmen of INEC, present them to the National Council of State, which is advisory, and send to the Senate for screening. This is exactly what the President has done. The recommendations of the Uwais panel, no matter how well meaning, remain recommendations until they are passed into law by the National Assembly.” (Jonathan have refused to submit the report to National Assembly)
How will our elections change if we refuse to pick lessons from 2003 and 2007 electoral fraud? Why should Jonathan be hell bent on repeating the frauds of the past? Why is Jonathan afraid of electoral reforms? Why will our common desire and demand be subjected to one man capricious hidden agenda? Who owns this country? Is it Jonathan or the Nigerian People? How dare Jonathan tell Nigerian people that he does not give a hoot about how we feel? Are we serving Jonathan or is Jonathan serving us?
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