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Maurice Iwu: Villain or Hero 1
Though largely pilloried for the turbulence that characterized the April 2007 General Elections in Nigeria, Prof.
Maurice Iwu’s reputation as a fearless electoral umpire, is staging a dramatic come back.
By Olufemi Soneye
Until June 12, 2008, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu’s reputation as the bacon of democratic struggle in Nigeria was intact
and unflinching. To most people, Nwosu, the chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission, the body that
conducted the ill-fated but famous June 12, 1993 presidential election in Nigeria was everything that Prof. Maurice
Iwu, the current Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was not.
Overtime the rule was to pitch Iwu in comparison against Nwosu who was roundly hailed for conducting what was
dubbed the freest and fairest election in Nigeria.
Nwosu, the patron saint of democrats in Nigeria seemed set for eventual beatification with the scheduled launch of
his book on the June 12 elections.
But on that day, against all expectations, Nwosu scored the football equivalent of an own goal when in his speech,
he sought to exonerate General Ibrahim Babangida, the military president who Nigerians hold responsible for the
annulment of the June 12 election. Instead, the famed Professor of Political Science laboured to put the blame at
the doorsteps of some members of the National Defence and Security Council, NDSC at the time.
Predictably, since the book launch Nwosu’s standing as an unwavering democrat has taken a nose dive.
Interestingly the same group that had all along held Nwosu aloft as the national benchmark in electoral matters
while throwing mud on Iwu are now calling for his head.
Amidst the tirade of the anti Nwosu polemics, some kind words are beginning to flow on the direction of the
hitherto vilified Iwu. "Nwosu is a coward why did he lack the courage to announce the June result immediately the
way Iwu did despite mounting opposition? The announcement could have saved the nation untold hardship and
blood letting that greeted the annulment", intoned a June 12 activist.
Adding his voice to the pro-Iwu thinking, David Mark, President of the Nigerian Senate who was a member of
Babangida’s NDSC, also took a swipe at Nwosu for not coming out to declare Moshood Abiola winner, the way Iwu
declared Yar Adua as winner of the April polls, since he was convinced the Social Democratic Party candidate won
the June 12, 1993 presidential elections.
With the advantage of hindsight, Iwu is now being perceived as a dogged umpire who braced all odds including
intimidation and threats to his personal safety to bring the cantankerous 2007 elections to scheduled conclusion.
Writing in an opinion piece published in Nigeria’s daily champion, Emma Agu, a seasoned journalist noted thus:
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: 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.
But Nwosu’s June 12 gaffe is far from being the only item that has increased Iwu’s recent approval ratings. Some
observers now believe that the complaints about the April polls could have been averted if Iwu had been allowed to
operate his novel Electronic Voting System, EVS project.
Straight from his appointment in 2005, Iwu has sold the EVS as a panacea to remove all elements of subjectivity
that had bedeviled the voting method in the past 73 years of voting experience in Nigeria. Described by its
promoters as simple to operate, the EVS machine by its function is designed to guarantees one man, one vote,
disallow ghost voters and ensures quick and uninterrupted simultaneous transmission of election results to the
centre. The user friendly EVS which does not require any academic qualification to operate only requires the voter
to walk to the voting centre and press the button of the political party of his choice which can not be done more
than once by the voter
But the EVS project was shot down by desperate politicians who wanted the status quo sustained for selfish
benefits.
Despite the suffocating rejection of the scientific approach to voting by the powers that be, Iwu went ahead with a
modified version of the scientific approach which led to the advent of the computerized voters register while pictures
of candidates for the governorship and presidential elections were displayed for the first time on the ballot papers.
It is no longer news that various forces were against the April 2007 presidential elections, on one part are those
close to the corridors of power who brazenly supported the third term agenda of Olusegun Obasanjo, on another
part are those who did everything within their power to sabotage the electoral process. It was also obvious that
many Nigerians that still await the much talked about dividend of democracy fought to ensure that the election
went ahead as planned.
Despite fierce criticism against the electoral process the Maurice Iwu led Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, went ahead conducted and concluded the electoral process in spite of several booby trap set
before it by selfish and ambitious politicians.
Due to Nigeria’s vast terrain and geographical size it makes the business of conducting credible elections a
Herculean task. Lack of communication and bad road networks have affected the distribution of voting exercise. In
view of this INEC proposed "Staggering Election Process" In this exercise, election would be held in batches in
order to simplify the process and effectively reach out to all the constituent units. Elections into various positions
would be held at different times. In this way, the resources and manpower would not be overstretched, supervision
would be tighter and better results achieved
Once again with the conclusion of the April 2007 elections which led to the first successful civilian to civilian
transfer of political power safely in the history books, Iwu has embarked on a new project aimed at addressing
perceived imbalance in the delineation of electoral constituencies in the country.
To achieve this, Iwu recently set up a 13- member Advisory Committee to produce within six months, the
delimitation action plan that would lead to the delineation of the federal and state constituencies in the country.
The advisory Committee has since submitted its report. According to INEC, the exercise is in consonance with the
provision of the 1999 constitution which stipulates that a delimitation of the federal constituencies be done every 10
years. The last exercise was last carried out in 1993 under Abacha. On the surface the project seem routine but
those who should know say that the issue of delineation of Federal Constituency is a very volatile subject which
only the bold and audacious like Iwu can dear to undertake. Already Iwu has pledged to uphold fairness, equity and
transparency in conducting the exercise which is designed to ensure that no group was driven to the margins.
Even before the committee set sail, there is no doubt that the greatest headache for the group would be how to
correct the much talked about imbalance in the allocation of federal constituencies between Kano and Lagos
states. While Lagos state and Kano ranks closely in population according to the sloppy population census figures,
Lagos state has 24 seats in the House of Representatives while Kano has 44. Same goes for States like Jigawa
and Katsina. But Iwu has pledged to ensure that this anomaly is corrected and expectedly his resolve is once
again drawing criticism from left, right and centre.
Daily Independent a newspaper in Nigeria in an editorial piece called INEC to halt the delineation process and
called for fixed parliamentary seats. It also stated that the flawed census conducted in Nigeria is one of the
paramount reasons why the delineation project would fail. It is quite obvious that the recent population census
conducted was a failure. The electoral Body headed by Maurice Iwu needs to be commended for this bold step
regarding the restructuring of all electoral districts in Nigeria. The daily Independent cited the" United States as an
example where demographic changes have benefited Southern States like Florida at the expense of large States in
the country’s eastern coast".
This is not only false but also misinforming. Based on data from the decennial census, each state is allocated a
proportion of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, though regardless of population, each
state is guaranteed a minimum of one seat. The Electoral College is the body, that every four years, elects the
President and Vice President of the United States. Each state’s representation in the Electoral College is equal to
that state’s total number of members in both houses of the United State’s Congress. By the Twenty-third
Amendment to the United States Constitution, the District of Columbia, DC which lies outside of the jurisdiction of
any state, is granted as many votes in the Electoral College as is given the state with the lowest representation in
that body. Thus the total representation of the College is 538 members (equal to 100 senators plus 435
representative, plus 3 members for DC). The 11 most populous states have a majority of the Electoral College
votes, enough to elect the President.
Contrary to Daily Independent’s editorial that "Demographic changes have benefited Southern States like Florida at
the expense of some large states in the Eastern seaboard"
New-York State is the largest state in the Eastern Region of the United States with a population size of 19,297,729
with 29 elected members of the United States House of Representatives. Pennsylvania comes after New-York with
a population size of 12,432,792 having 19 members in the House of Representatives. The sunshine state of Florida
has population size of 18 million people with 25 seats at the House of Representatives.
Nigerians are bitter largely because of the activities of elected public officials, many of whom have failed in their
respective offices living in opulence while the vast majority of Nigerians live in penury. No doubt many vent their
anger on INEC and are quick to throw tomatoes at the Electoral body for the inept and insensitive role of elected
Government officials. Delimitation exercise is a welcome development proposed by INEC and should be supported
by all Nigerians that clamour for fair and equal representation.
The delimitation of electoral constituencies is an exercise practiced in developed countries periodically. It is
predicated on the need for equity and better representation. It has been done in France, Italy, Canada and the
New-Zealand. In the United Kingdom which practices a parliamentary system of government, review of
parliamentary boundaries is done every 8-12 years.
Nigeria’s electoral boundary is lopsided and filled with great anomaly to this end the Maurice Iwu led INEC
produced a publication called "Atlas of Electoral Constituencies of 2008." It is a monumental publication beginning
with the general administrative map of Nigeria, followed by the map of evolution of political boundaries and map of
the geo-political zones subsequently; it presents four maps on each state and the Federal Capita Territory, FCT,
the political map, maps of senatorial districts, federal and state constituencies. According to Iwu "This atlas of
electoral constituencies is a collection of maps that depict geopolitical groupings of Nigerian people not on the
basis of political party affiliations but rather on the basis of geographical locations that give them common political
representation for the purpose of good governance and pursuit of economic and social development. Lagos state
Governor Babatunde Fashola AC recently asked for additional 229 wards for Lagos State, while applauding the
delimitation exercise.
The significant element in the design of this exercise is the principle of transparency. In the history of the country’s
evolution of democracy Nigerians are being taken into confidence by INEC on the need to restructure the electoral
map of the country and asked to have their own input. Those against the exercise have also expressed their
concerns just as the Omo N’ Oba Erediauwa the Benin Monarch said " We do not support any attempt to carve
out any part of Benin Kingdom to join any other senatorial district as being proposed by INEC. No inch of Benin
land should be carved out."
Others have also questioned INEC’s sincerity in the proposed plan and have preferred that a different authority be
set up to conduct the exercise as canvassed by Chief Emeka Duru of the All Peoples Grand Alliance Party,
APGA. "This is a final slam-dunk by PDP to dominate the other parties once and for all." A look at countries that
have successfully embarked on constituency delimitation shows that it is overseen by the electoral body of its
respective countries.
Canada is worthy of being mentioned. Constituency delimitation is the task of an independent body different from
the Canada Election Commission. It is done by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission; it is an independent
department under the election commission. It was made independent in order to insulate it from political and other
interference when drawing political boundaries.
The election of 2008 have come and gone it is time for Nigerians to move on and correct the mistakes of past
elections. According to Dr Peter Olofinlua, President of African Leadership Group, ALG based in Cleveland, Ohio
"We are all aware of the shortcomings characterized by the election of 2008, it is normal, what we need to do is to
prevent them from reoccurring. A genuine population census should be conducted and INEC should be supported
to free Nigeria from those that have held us hostage."
Maurice Iwu has said repeatedly that the delimitation exercise is geared towards correcting the imbalance in the
electoral constituencies in the country; his aim is to empower our weak democracy.
Tempo20785@yahoo.com.au
Watch out for Part 2
Though largely pilloried for the turbulence that characterized the April 2007 General Elections in Nigeria, Prof.
Maurice Iwu’s reputation as a fearless electoral umpire, is staging a dramatic come back.
By Olufemi Soneye
Until June 12, 2008, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu’s reputation as the bacon of democratic struggle in Nigeria was intact
and unflinching. To most people, Nwosu, the chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission, the body that
conducted the ill-fated but famous June 12, 1993 presidential election in Nigeria was everything that Prof. Maurice
Iwu, the current Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was not.
Overtime the rule was to pitch Iwu in comparison against Nwosu who was roundly hailed for conducting what was
dubbed the freest and fairest election in Nigeria.
Nwosu, the patron saint of democrats in Nigeria seemed set for eventual beatification with the scheduled launch of
his book on the June 12 elections.
But on that day, against all expectations, Nwosu scored the football equivalent of an own goal when in his speech,
he sought to exonerate General Ibrahim Babangida, the military president who Nigerians hold responsible for the
annulment of the June 12 election. Instead, the famed Professor of Political Science laboured to put the blame at
the doorsteps of some members of the National Defence and Security Council, NDSC at the time.
Predictably, since the book launch Nwosu’s standing as an unwavering democrat has taken a nose dive.
Interestingly the same group that had all along held Nwosu aloft as the national benchmark in electoral matters
while throwing mud on Iwu are now calling for his head.
Amidst the tirade of the anti Nwosu polemics, some kind words are beginning to flow on the direction of the
hitherto vilified Iwu. "Nwosu is a coward why did he lack the courage to announce the June result immediately the
way Iwu did despite mounting opposition? The announcement could have saved the nation untold hardship and
blood letting that greeted the annulment", intoned a June 12 activist.
Adding his voice to the pro-Iwu thinking, David Mark, President of the Nigerian Senate who was a member of
Babangida’s NDSC, also took a swipe at Nwosu for not coming out to declare Moshood Abiola winner, the way Iwu
declared Yar Adua as winner of the April polls, since he was convinced the Social Democratic Party candidate won
the June 12, 1993 presidential elections.
With the advantage of hindsight, Iwu is now being perceived as a dogged umpire who braced all odds including
intimidation and threats to his personal safety to bring the cantankerous 2007 elections to scheduled conclusion.
Writing in an opinion piece published in Nigeria’s daily champion, Emma Agu, a seasoned journalist noted thus:
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: 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.
But Nwosu’s June 12 gaffe is far from being the only item that has increased Iwu’s recent approval ratings. Some
observers now believe that the complaints about the April polls could have been averted if Iwu had been allowed to
operate his novel Electronic Voting System, EVS project.
Straight from his appointment in 2005, Iwu has sold the EVS as a panacea to remove all elements of subjectivity
that had bedeviled the voting method in the past 73 years of voting experience in Nigeria. Described by its
promoters as simple to operate, the EVS machine by its function is designed to guarantees one man, one vote,
disallow ghost voters and ensures quick and uninterrupted simultaneous transmission of election results to the
centre. The user friendly EVS which does not require any academic qualification to operate only requires the voter
to walk to the voting centre and press the button of the political party of his choice which can not be done more
than once by the voter
But the EVS project was shot down by desperate politicians who wanted the status quo sustained for selfish
benefits.
Despite the suffocating rejection of the scientific approach to voting by the powers that be, Iwu went ahead with a
modified version of the scientific approach which led to the advent of the computerized voters register while pictures
of candidates for the governorship and presidential elections were displayed for the first time on the ballot papers.
It is no longer news that various forces were against the April 2007 presidential elections, on one part are those
close to the corridors of power who brazenly supported the third term agenda of Olusegun Obasanjo, on another
part are those who did everything within their power to sabotage the electoral process. It was also obvious that
many Nigerians that still await the much talked about dividend of democracy fought to ensure that the election
went ahead as planned.
Despite fierce criticism against the electoral process the Maurice Iwu led Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, went ahead conducted and concluded the electoral process in spite of several booby trap set
before it by selfish and ambitious politicians.
Due to Nigeria’s vast terrain and geographical size it makes the business of conducting credible elections a
Herculean task. Lack of communication and bad road networks have affected the distribution of voting exercise. In
view of this INEC proposed "Staggering Election Process" In this exercise, election would be held in batches in
order to simplify the process and effectively reach out to all the constituent units. Elections into various positions
would be held at different times. In this way, the resources and manpower would not be overstretched, supervision
would be tighter and better results achieved
Once again with the conclusion of the April 2007 elections which led to the first successful civilian to civilian
transfer of political power safely in the history books, Iwu has embarked on a new project aimed at addressing
perceived imbalance in the delineation of electoral constituencies in the country.
To achieve this, Iwu recently set up a 13- member Advisory Committee to produce within six months, the
delimitation action plan that would lead to the delineation of the federal and state constituencies in the country.
The advisory Committee has since submitted its report. According to INEC, the exercise is in consonance with the
provision of the 1999 constitution which stipulates that a delimitation of the federal constituencies be done every 10
years. The last exercise was last carried out in 1993 under Abacha. On the surface the project seem routine but
those who should know say that the issue of delineation of Federal Constituency is a very volatile subject which
only the bold and audacious like Iwu can dear to undertake. Already Iwu has pledged to uphold fairness, equity and
transparency in conducting the exercise which is designed to ensure that no group was driven to the margins.
Even before the committee set sail, there is no doubt that the greatest headache for the group would be how to
correct the much talked about imbalance in the allocation of federal constituencies between Kano and Lagos
states. While Lagos state and Kano ranks closely in population according to the sloppy population census figures,
Lagos state has 24 seats in the House of Representatives while Kano has 44. Same goes for States like Jigawa
and Katsina. But Iwu has pledged to ensure that this anomaly is corrected and expectedly his resolve is once
again drawing criticism from left, right and centre.
Daily Independent a newspaper in Nigeria in an editorial piece called INEC to halt the delineation process and
called for fixed parliamentary seats. It also stated that the flawed census conducted in Nigeria is one of the
paramount reasons why the delineation project would fail. It is quite obvious that the recent population census
conducted was a failure. The electoral Body headed by Maurice Iwu needs to be commended for this bold step
regarding the restructuring of all electoral districts in Nigeria. The daily Independent cited the" United States as an
example where demographic changes have benefited Southern States like Florida at the expense of large States in
the country’s eastern coast".
This is not only false but also misinforming. Based on data from the decennial census, each state is allocated a
proportion of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, though regardless of population, each
state is guaranteed a minimum of one seat. The Electoral College is the body, that every four years, elects the
President and Vice President of the United States. Each state’s representation in the Electoral College is equal to
that state’s total number of members in both houses of the United State’s Congress. By the Twenty-third
Amendment to the United States Constitution, the District of Columbia, DC which lies outside of the jurisdiction of
any state, is granted as many votes in the Electoral College as is given the state with the lowest representation in
that body. Thus the total representation of the College is 538 members (equal to 100 senators plus 435
representative, plus 3 members for DC). The 11 most populous states have a majority of the Electoral College
votes, enough to elect the President.
Contrary to Daily Independent’s editorial that "Demographic changes have benefited Southern States like Florida at
the expense of some large states in the Eastern seaboard"
New-York State is the largest state in the Eastern Region of the United States with a population size of 19,297,729
with 29 elected members of the United States House of Representatives. Pennsylvania comes after New-York with
a population size of 12,432,792 having 19 members in the House of Representatives. The sunshine state of Florida
has population size of 18 million people with 25 seats at the House of Representatives.
Nigerians are bitter largely because of the activities of elected public officials, many of whom have failed in their
respective offices living in opulence while the vast majority of Nigerians live in penury. No doubt many vent their
anger on INEC and are quick to throw tomatoes at the Electoral body for the inept and insensitive role of elected
Government officials. Delimitation exercise is a welcome development proposed by INEC and should be supported
by all Nigerians that clamour for fair and equal representation.
The delimitation of electoral constituencies is an exercise practiced in developed countries periodically. It is
predicated on the need for equity and better representation. It has been done in France, Italy, Canada and the
New-Zealand. In the United Kingdom which practices a parliamentary system of government, review of
parliamentary boundaries is done every 8-12 years.
Nigeria’s electoral boundary is lopsided and filled with great anomaly to this end the Maurice Iwu led INEC
produced a publication called "Atlas of Electoral Constituencies of 2008." It is a monumental publication beginning
with the general administrative map of Nigeria, followed by the map of evolution of political boundaries and map of
the geo-political zones subsequently; it presents four maps on each state and the Federal Capita Territory, FCT,
the political map, maps of senatorial districts, federal and state constituencies. According to Iwu "This atlas of
electoral constituencies is a collection of maps that depict geopolitical groupings of Nigerian people not on the
basis of political party affiliations but rather on the basis of geographical locations that give them common political
representation for the purpose of good governance and pursuit of economic and social development. Lagos state
Governor Babatunde Fashola AC recently asked for additional 229 wards for Lagos State, while applauding the
delimitation exercise.
The significant element in the design of this exercise is the principle of transparency. In the history of the country’s
evolution of democracy Nigerians are being taken into confidence by INEC on the need to restructure the electoral
map of the country and asked to have their own input. Those against the exercise have also expressed their
concerns just as the Omo N’ Oba Erediauwa the Benin Monarch said " We do not support any attempt to carve
out any part of Benin Kingdom to join any other senatorial district as being proposed by INEC. No inch of Benin
land should be carved out."
Others have also questioned INEC’s sincerity in the proposed plan and have preferred that a different authority be
set up to conduct the exercise as canvassed by Chief Emeka Duru of the All Peoples Grand Alliance Party,
APGA. "This is a final slam-dunk by PDP to dominate the other parties once and for all." A look at countries that
have successfully embarked on constituency delimitation shows that it is overseen by the electoral body of its
respective countries.
Canada is worthy of being mentioned. Constituency delimitation is the task of an independent body different from
the Canada Election Commission. It is done by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission; it is an independent
department under the election commission. It was made independent in order to insulate it from political and other
interference when drawing political boundaries.
The election of 2008 have come and gone it is time for Nigerians to move on and correct the mistakes of past
elections. According to Dr Peter Olofinlua, President of African Leadership Group, ALG based in Cleveland, Ohio
"We are all aware of the shortcomings characterized by the election of 2008, it is normal, what we need to do is to
prevent them from reoccurring. A genuine population census should be conducted and INEC should be supported
to free Nigeria from those that have held us hostage."
Maurice Iwu has said repeatedly that the delimitation exercise is geared towards correcting the imbalance in the
electoral constituencies in the country; his aim is to empower our weak democracy.
Tempo20785@yahoo.com.au
Watch out for Part 2
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