Diary of Iwu’s Elections

Written by This Day Thursday, 29 April 2010

The curtain was drawn on Professor Maurice Iwu’s tenure yesterday as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as he was asked to proceed on pre-disengagement leave. However, the outgoing electoral umpire would probably go down in history as the most controversial chairman of the nation’s electoral body.
He was appointed along with other National Electoral Commissioners as chairman of INEC in 2005 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo

The 2003 election was not conducted by Iwu. But Iwu was a national commissioner in INEC under Chairman Dr. Abel Guobadia, who organised the 2003 poll. The election was generally adjudged to be flawed due to the widespread cases of electoral malpractices such as snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes with thumb printed ballot papers and  declaration of  wrong results.

The result of the presidential election which returned former President Obasanjo to office for a second term of office was contested by the candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Major General Mohammadu Buhari(rtd), who alleged electoral malpractices against PDP and allegations of bias against INEC
But in the end, the court adjudged the election of Obasanjo in order.

2007 General Election

The 2007 general election was the first to be conducted by Iwu. It was widely acknowledged as the worst and most fraudulent election ever conducted in the history of Nigeria. The election which produced President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as President was described as “the most massively rigged, the most violent and hence, the most hotly disputed. The blame was put at the doorstep of Iwu, who was accused of partisanship, meddlesomeness in the electoral cum political process.
President Yar”Adua, however, agreed that the election that produced him was flawed and promised to reform the electoral system.

2010 Anambra State Governorship Election

However, conscious of the widespread criticism against it, INEC in conducting the 2010 governorship election tried to redeem its image. Although there were some complaints but the February 6, 2010 governorship election in Anambra State was regarded as relatively free and fair by election observers.

Etsako re-run Election

The Etsako re-run election in Edo State was also adjudged to be free and fair by both local and international observers who also commended Iwu’s INEC for  making a success of the re-run election
However, as the curtain has been drawn on Iwu’s leadership, the new umpire should move swiftly and  work towards improving  the voter register, removing double registration, under age entries, entries without pictures and other shortcomings.