Abuja — Chairman of National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu

Chairman of National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, yesterday listed impediments to the 2011 general election.

He said the concept of "the African big man, lingering culture of autocratic democrats, negative mind-set of political actors and crass indiscipline and inordinate ambition" of candidates and their political parties, have been at the root of the problems faced in the nation's electoral process.

Iwu who was Guest Lecturer at the 2009 Better Society Lecture Series organized by the Champion Newspapers at the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Center, Abuja, explained that except Nigerians worked on these parameters, the quest for electoral reforms will not succeed.

In his lecture entitled "2011: Political Behaviour and the Future of Elections in Nigeria", he listed problems faced by the commission in conducting elections, but added that the future was still bright.

Drawing instances from his practical experience as INEC boss, he noted that apart from obvious inordinate ambition of politicians, whom he accused of insisting they must win elections at all costs, the INEC boss drew the public attention to the difficulty of achieving any meaningful changes by simply bringing out fresh electoral laws, without going into the fundamentals and prescribing stiff punishment for electoral offenders.

"The concept of the African big man - a lord whose word is law and to whom all those around him must bow - has remained a potent threat to democracy and its attendant activities such as the electoral process.

"When an individual exists, as is still found these days, who single-handedly picks all candidates for a political party in all elections, the views and preferences of majority of the party members notwithstanding, the grief for democracy apparent.

"As it turns out most often, where ever one African big man or godfather or leader holds sway in a political setting, smaller and pocket godfathers thrive down the line, all thwarting compliance to democratic norms and personifying every other thing but that which democracy stands for.

"For these autocratic democrats, elections must be won at all cost. Every weapon - money, influence, intimidation, blackmail, media assault and physical violence, exists to be deployed to ensure that the big man is not disgraced in an electoral contest," Professor Iwu stressed.

Insisting that this prevailing dominant political behaviour posed serious challenge to advancement of democracy, he charged the National Assembly to enact laws which will prescribe stringent punishment for electoral offenders.

He explained that it was this mindset of politicians to win at all cost, which eroded proper political values, pointing out that there was nothing current agitation for electoral reforms could achieve without tackling these basic fundamentals.

"The present efforts to reform the electoral process offers a great opportunity for the nation to look at its political and electoral processes with sobriety and candour, but not with fear or under threat.

"There is so much that yearns for attention and change in the electoral system. It is doubtful however, that much good can be achieved if the pitch for electoral reform is seized as some politicians are strenuously attempting to do, and turned into a campaign slogan, propelled by threats of what will befall the nation if particular trajectories are not followed.

"There is not basis for fear to be foisted on the nation in the name of promoting electoral reform," he stressed.

Providing more insight into the implications of such problems, Iwu noted that "the 2007 elections experienced some of the most harrowing aspects of these tendencies. Among the troubling features of the prevailing political behaviour and tendencies are lack of underpinning ideologies and principles by parties and individuals".

He also added that "contemporary Nigerian politics seems so obviously to have little or no room for firm belief in anything beyond the pursuit of personal ambition. The room for treachery in this setting is therefore, vast. This is a grave problem for the growth of the electoral process and the state.

"A predominant political behaviour that shows minimal interest in the fortification and sustenance of institutions of the state is also a major problem for the society," he stressed.

He told the audience how prominent politicians persuaded INEC to postpone the 2007 general election, pointing out that had the commission succumbed to such pressure, the nation's political stability would have been seriously compromised.

On the emergence of several candidates at election, Prof. Iwu noted that there was nothing intrinsically wrong with such, "as long as the initial selection within the party and subsequent election that follow democratic norms and rule of law".

He stated that what was today happening in Anambra state happened in many other states, pointing out that "the frightening extent to which some people can go in the name of political activism to undermine their country simply because they have not got what they believe is due to them" is still prevalent and must be extinguished.

He also called for financial autonomy for INEC, but stressed that the major problem lies with the human factor, which must be the major focus in the electoral reform discussions.

Iwu painted a graphic picture of how his resolute insistence to playing the game by the rules pitched him against many Nigerians, particularly politicians he described as absolutely desperate and winning at all costs.

But after analyzing the scenario, the chief electoral officer of the country declared that the future of future elections are bright given a number of internal reforms and research carried out by his commission.

"At INEC, we have established the Electoral Institute to propagate voter education and enlightenment. The commission has also initiated other far reaching institutional, organizational and procedural reforms since 2005.

"These include the introduction of the electronic voter register, the introduction of Political Party Finance Manual (to bring about order and accountability in the management of party finances); the abolition of the pre-2008 policy in which most as hoc staff were recruited literally from the streets to help conduct elections and the increased transparency of the entire electoral process with the use of broad based election monitoring and observation board," he added.