allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Maurice Iwu - The Chicken is Coming Home to Roost (Page 1 of 2)

Until recently, Humphrey Nwosu, chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission, the body that conducted the ill-fated June 12, 1993 presidential election, had been something of a folk hero in Nigeria.

It could be said that he had acquired for himself the status of the patron saint of democrats in Nigeria. His every step elicited endless accolades; mere thought of him raised the democratic adrenaline in the blood stream of June 12thsts. Reason: It is generally believed that he conducted the freest and fairest election in Nigeria. Many had urged him to do a book on 'June 12', something of a Bible on elections. And so, the nation waited for his book, the book that would rubbish all anti-democratic forces and chart the path to a more democratic space.

When the book was released last week, Nwosu stirred the hornet's nest. Quite seriously, it would be naïve to expect that a book on such a sensitive matter and by no less a person than the umpire himself, could be devoid of controversy. That the book's launch has kicked up as much dust as the event it sought to explain is therefore not surprising. The surprise, however, lies in the direction the arrows are flying from- the same group that had all along held Nwosu aloft as the national benchmark in electoral matters are now calling for his head. So what has gone wrong?

Simple. Nwosu, a foremost professor of political science, made the mistake of going against conventional 'truth': in his speech at the book launch, he sought to exonerate General Ibrahim Babangida, the military president who Nigerians hold responsible for the annulment. Instead, he laid the blame for the action squarely at the doorsteps of some members of the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) at the time.

In the process, the genial and hitherto adored electoral umpire has offended many people, among them two very powerful groups: some members of the NDSC at the time and the June 12 activists and sympathizers who had been looking for the ultimate handle to nail Babangida. Within a twinkle of an eye, Nwosu's fate had plummeted from the Olympian height of Hosanna to the bestial nadir of 'crucify him'.

Pronto, Senate President David Mark and Adamawa State Governor Muritala Nyako, both members of the NDSC at the time pooh-poohed Nwosu's claim, distancing themselves from the infamous annulment while others wasted no time in dismissing the book as full of half truths and half lies and a public relations stunt for Babangida.

As things stand, we may never be able to establish the truth from the avalanche of positions that are being bandied about. While that is the case, I am urged to argue that we should not ignore David Mark's position that Nwosu should have declared Moshood Abiola winner, since he was convinced the Social Democratic Party candidate won the June 12, 1993 presidential elections. Although I am yet to read his account of the events, even Nwosu, in retrospect ought to concede that his inaction, a very costly slip, was the catalyst for the conundrum that subsequently enveloped the nation, put military rule firmly in the saddle for six extra years and inflicted a very deep wound on the national psyche. Unfortunately, this is one wound that the passage of time has failed to heal.

There are interesting parallels between Humphrey Nwosu and Maurice Iwu, the much vilified chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Both are Igbo. Both are professors. Both are from the University of Nigeria. Both are great talkers, almost unstoppable, if you permit, 'unputdownable'! Both are very patriotic Nigerians who literally put their lives on the line for the sake of Nigeria. And both have had their fair share of commendation and condemnation.

An example will suffice here. Thrilled by the data capture process that was meant to minimize multiple voting, Mohammadu Buhari and some other prominent Nigerians, had commended INEC over its preparation for the last year's elections; Nwosu's NEC was similarly commended for Option A4, a method that made the outcome of the election easier to predict than the secret ballot system. In fact, only recently, Atiku and his Action Congress party had similarly commended Iwu's INEC over its preparations for the re-run governorship elections in Adamawa; that was until the outcome went against their party's candidate!

Similarly, there is also no denying the fact that while Nwosu's effort was truncated by anti-democratic forces in the military, the scientific breakthrough Iwu attempted to pull off through electronic voting and the data capture machine was frustrated by anti-democratic forces among the political elite who could not change from their nefarious habit of old.

But there was a major difference: while Nwosu lacked the courage to announce the winner of the June 12 presidential election, Iwu, in the face of mind-boggling odds, went ahead to announce a winner! That way, he saved Nigeria the bloodshed that attended the annulment of the June 12 elections, a dark spot in the nation's history over which Nwosu is now being lampooned by his erstwhile admirers. How times change.

What is the implication of all this? Simple. Let's not deceive ourselves. It could serve some interests to continue with the current Iwu-bashing. But it's such a miserable preoccupation that only blinds us to the real problems of elections in Nigeria, thus leaving us groping for solutions that are at best, palliatives or self-serving soft-landing for political jobbers.

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