Daily Independent (Lagos)
Akinwunmi King
9 January 2009
As Ghana's new President, John Atta Mills was sworn-in on Wednesday, Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate in the 2007 general elections in Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has expressed his delight over the peaceful conduct of the poll and transition.
However, he blamed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu for electoral woes experienced in the country.
According to Fayemi, Iwu was largely responsible for the electoral fraud in the country, as he did not have the integrity to stand his ground and do an objective job.
He added that all over the world, political parties are known for trying to manipulate the electoral process to their advantage, but it is the electoral commission's ability to say no in such instances that mattered.
He made reference to the 1993 election conducted by Professor Humphrey Nwosu, stating that the election was perfect in many regards apart from the then Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, not wanting to hand over the reins of power.
His words: "Iwu is largely responsible for the electoral fraud in the country today, because every political party tries to manipulate and control the political process, whether in Ghana, United States or the United Kingdom, but it is the integrity of the electoral commission, their ability to say no when the opportunity arises and their determination to adhere to due process, that will make the process smooth. Right now, we do not have voting, what we have is selection."
He argued that there is a lot to learn from the Ghanaian elections, stating that Ghana as a country has shown that it is greater than individuals and that it will come first before anybody.
He said, "There are several lessons Nigerians can learn; that everybody interested in democracy can learn from what has just transpired in Ghana. But, I think it is important to state that this is not the first time that this is happening in Ghana, given that Ghana has a better electoral management process since 1992, when they returned to democracy and every step of the way, the Ghana electoral commission has proven to be genuinely independent, transparent and credible in all its dealings.
"The Ghanaians have demonstrated that Ghana is greater than individuals, Ghanaians will always put Ghana first, if you see the way things have gone, you will realise that it is not manufactured band wagon effect, they could not resolve it in the first round; it went to the second round, they could not resolve it in the second round and it went to the third round and we all saw how transparent the whole process was," Fayemi added.
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