Posted by From FRANCIS AWOWOLE-BROWNE and JAMES OJO, Abuja on
Critics of the just concluded general elections Wednesday got the raw side of the tongue of Professor Maurice Iwu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the official umpire in the controversial electoral contests.
Critics of the just concluded general elections Wednesday got the raw side of the tongue of Professor Maurice Iwu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the official umpire in the controversial electoral contests.
The occasion was the presentation of the certificate of return to Alhaji Umar Yar'Adua, the declared winner of the disputed presidential election at the INEC headquarters, Abuja, where Iwu lampooned the critics to no end in a tirade in which he also gloated on his commission's "accomplishments."
The INEC boss, who had spent over 40 minutes behind closed door with the Katsina State Governor, before the ceremony, said he had shamed his enemies and enemies of democracy, who never believed that the elections would hold in the first instance.
In a ten-page address he proudly delivered, the INEC chairman said that though it was a relief for him to have conducted the elections that produced a president-elect, his innate confidence was tested by a vocal minority that tried, but in vain to diminish the accomplishment of the April polls because of lack of a grand understanding of the Nigerian society.
Describing them as idealists who build castles in the air, without first laying a solid foundation, Iwu noted that the reality on ground, though painful was that the nation was mightily endowed, but sadly continued to be held down by bankrupt policies and self-serving politicians.
"In the unwholesome setting fostered by these selfish elements with enormous means, everything is done to undermine the electoral process by those who in their own assessment have little chance of winning. In this setting, violence, blackmail and audacious roguery are part of what is called politics," he bemoaned.
Iwu lamented that it was under such a fearful environment that he conducted the 2007 election, lamenting that some people would never appreciate the efforts of the commission to deliver a free and fair election.
Short of cursing his detractors, he said that it was callous and inhuman of those who have sought to subtract from the accomplishments of last month's elections without asking the number of staff of the commission and policemen that were killed in the course of national duty.
The commission, according to him, had in the early stages of preparation for the elections drawn the attention of the public to the looming danger of electoral violence, the corrosive influence of money in politics and the unhelpful mindset of Nigerians towards elections, but that little was done to correct these lapses.
He said that it might be easy to forget that up till the eve of the elections, there were widespread doubts about the prospects of the elections holding, in addition to huge amount of money deployed by some people to undermine the commission.
Within the commission itself, Iwu admitted that there was massive infiltration and inducement of its members, all in a bid to scuttle the elections, but expressed happiness that the commission under him triumphed in breaking the jinx of transition from one civilian administration that completed its two terms to another civilian government.
"We must also be quick to detect mischievous attempts to discredit a process which is substantially valid and representative of the wishes of our quiet majority who having expressed their electoral will are back to the rigour of their daily existence with the hope that the new government will pay back through good governance," he said.
Iwu said that the commission had implicit faith in the judiciary and asked parties to take advantage of the judicial process to seek redress, adding that beyond the judicial process, the nation must start preparing for the 2011 elections now.
INEC, he said believed strongly that Musa Yar'Adua, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the April 21 presidential election and that the commission was proud of his victory in the polls.
"May I affirm again, that you won the presidential election in a free and fair contest…" he told Yar'Adua.
Receiving the certificate of return from Iwu, Yar'Adua, said that he believed strongly that he was duly elected during the presidential election.
"I sincerely believe that I have the mandate of Nigerians as provided for me in the conduct and outcome of the last presidential election. There is nowhere in the world that we have perfect elections, it is our duty to move forward under the law. Nigerians have demonstrated that the best way to progress is to have democracy."
Yar'Adua commended INEC for conducting a successful election, promising that his administration would strengthen the commission so that it would improve on its performances.
"Improving the standard of elections in the country is not the job of INEC alone, but all other institutions like the political parties. I want to pledge that the next administration that I am going to lead would give INEC the support and find ways to improve the standards of elections. We have a duty as a nation to do it," he said.