‘‘If May 29th,1999 started with the forgery of official power via the shameless and blanket rigging of 1999 elections, 29th May 2003, has entered into the deep track of Nigerian history as the greatest mockery ever.’’ – Nowinta’s book, 2009: Where We Are (page 131)
Pebbles with Igbotako Nowinta.
On July 1st, 2015, that is a day after Professor Attahiru Jega gloriously vacated the chairmanship position of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a crew of reporters from the Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS), Benin City, Nigeria came to my office to seek my view on his exit.
The leader of the news crew happens to be a long- time friend who knows where I often stand as one of the leaders of the civil society in Edo State, Nigeria.
When I was asked to describe the tenure of Professor Attahiru Jega, I simply said that Jega is the greatest electoral umpire in the history of Nigeria, because of the revolutionary initiatives he introduced into the electoral system of the country.
Which of the former head of the nation’s electoral outfit can equal Jega’s gigantic strides? Who? Is it Maurice Iwu who shortly before the 2007 general elections went round the country, preaching free and fair elections and ended up committing the greatest act of treachery against the Nigerian voters?
It must be said that Professor Iwu played General Olusegun Obasanjo’s evil script to the tilt and messed up the electoral system more than any other man that has ever sat on that hot electoral seat.
Is it Ephraim Akpata, the late retired chief justice, whose naivety, simplicity and inexperience in electoral matters allowed the retired top brass, led by General Abdussalam Abubakar to rig one of the worst elections in our shores in 1999?
An election in 1999 that threw General Olusegun Obasanjo forcibly down the throats of the Nigerian people, because they wanted to continue to run the show alone without the input of the masses.
Who? Is it Dr. Abel Guobadia, a good man, mild mannered and incredibly brilliant, but who was manipulated by the powers that be, and in the process allowed Olusegun Obasanjo to do his wicked thing against the masses of Nigeria.
Or is it late justice Victor Ovie-Wiskey, who in 1979, during the Second Republic conducted a mind boggling election that cruelly denied Chief Obafemi Awolowo the presidency of Nigeria, thereby stamping a political feather weight/ordinary school teacher in Alhaji Shehu Shagari on the helpless and hapless electorate in Nigeria?
Is it Chief Semlac Dagogo-Jack led electoral body during General Sani Abacha’s demented transition to civil rule program?
One can go on and on. Or is it Michael Ani, who in the First Republic looked the other way while politicians perfected a heinous electoral crime against the people of Nigeria?
The only guy aside Professor Attahiru Jega, who tried against all odds during General Ibrahim Babangda’s endless and costliest transition to civil rule program in 1993, by conducting the June 12 Presidential election, was Professor Humphrey Nwosu.
It was Nwosu who courageously defied a court order that wanted to scuttle the June 12 Presidential election and proceeded to arrange the famous open ballot system that jolted the evil electoral doctrines of the conservative block in Nigeria in 1993.
Honestly, if not for Humphrey Nwosu there would never have been June 12 Presidential election that has become an albatross on the necks of the enemies of the people of Nigeria.
In order words, it was Prof. Nwosu that made an MKO Abiola the legendary democratic hero he is in our country today.
If Professor Attahiru Jega is not the greatest INEC chairperson why did the enemies of the people of Nigeria want him removed at all cost shortly before the March 28th 2015 Presidential/National Assembly Elections?
Truly, Jega experienced torrents of malice, disdain, and negative distortion of facts against his person, which were carefully sponsored and orchestrated by those within the Peoples Democratic Party.
It is Prof Jega’s extraordinary efforts via the introduction of the Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) and the masterpiece, called the Card Reader Device (CR) that have made possible what the people of Nigeria could not get in Obafemi Awolowo in 1979 and in Chief MKO Abiola in 1993.
Indeed Jega is one of the undiluted heroes of the March 28th Presidential Elections in Nigeria by making the presidency of President Muhammadu Buhari a stunning reality, after a record four times of trial.
Jega is the undisputed greatest patriot in our clime today, because President Buhari is the first man ever to shoot down a sitting president in an electoral contest successfully.
After Jega’s exit what is next? One of the regrets of Prof Jega was his inability to put in place a separate salary structure for the staff of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which would have gone a long way in furthering the independence of the nation’s main electoral body.
Now, whoever that is in the saddle at INEC headquarters should try assiduously to ensure an independent salary structure for INEC.
The electoral body should take a step further to digitalize our voting system like what is obtainable in the civilized climes of the world.
In choosing a substantive Chairman for INEC, President Muhammadu Buhari must scout for a guy that will surpass the enviable records of Professor Jega. Honestly, Nigerians will not take anything less than a forthright, pious, Godly, courageous and people-oriented man to step into the big shoes left by Attahiru Jega
Nowinta wrote, Where We Are: A Call for Democratic Revolution in Nigeria
