All Eyes On Him   

Published on July 5, 2010 by TheNEWS   ·   No Comments

As the 2011 general elections approach, Professor Attahiru Jega, new Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, is the focal point

Like an accused in the dock undergoing a rigorous cross examination from a team of determined lawyers, the outcome of which may mean life or death, Professor Attahiru Jega stood for over four hours before the Senate on 23 June. The professor of Political Science, who was nominated as Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on 8 June, was grilled by the lawmakers on how he intends to tackle the challenges of his new job. Notable among the questions asked were how he would tackle corruption, especially as it relates to the organisation of elections; how to clean up the largely discredited voters’ register and how to ensure that the 2011 polls are credible.

But the grilling Jega went through was itself a reflection of public anxiety over INEC. This arose principally on account of the disgraceful performance of Professor Maurice Iwu, immediate past chairman of the commission. As INEC Chairman, Iwu led the commission in the conduct of the 2007 general elections, which are considered–locally and internationally– as the most hideous in Nigeria’s electoral history. Every step of the way, the elections were marred by a posse of familiar problems: widespread violence, fraud, partisanship of the umpire and poor organisation, which led to disenfranchisement of most of the eligible voters, as noted in the reports and comments  of the observers.  “In many places and in a number of ways, the electoral process failed the Nigerian people,” Madeleine Albright, former United States Secretary of State and an observer during the elections, said.

In its final report on the elections released in August, 2007, the European Union Election Observation Mission, EU EOM, said the standard of the elections was below basic international and regional standards for democratic elections. The EOM concluded that the elections were marred by very poor organisation, lack of essential transparency, widespread procedural irregularities, substantial evidence of fraud, widespread voter disenfranchisement, lack of equal conditions for political parties and candidates and numerous incidents of violence.  “First, that the 2007 election process was not credible, and in view of the lack of transparency and evidence of fraud, there can be no confidence in the results. Second, that urgent and comprehensive reform is required to improve the framework and conduct of future elections,” said Max van den Berg, Chief Observer of the EU EOM.

Festus Okoye, a member of the civil society who monitored the elections also criticised the polls for their opaqueness and disenfranchisement suffered by many. “In several states, elections did not take place,” he said. The widespread condemnation of the elections, spurred the late Umaru Yar’Adua, who was declared winner of the presidential election, to immediately promise the country that one of his key initiatives in office will be to carry out a reform of the electoral system.

Three months after he was sworn in, Yar’Adua kicked off the reform process with the setting up of the 22-man committee on Electoral Reform, led by Justice Mohammed Uwais, a retired Chief Justice of Nigeria. Jega was a member of the committee. The committee submitted its report towards the end of 2008. However, some of the key recommendations of the committee, notably the one related to the process of appointment of INEC Chairman were rejected in a white paper issued by government on the report. The Uwais Committee had recommended that the National Judicial Service Commission, NJC, be made the appointing authority for the position of INEC Chairman. This, in its view, will guarantee the neutrality of the appointee who, otherwise, may be beholden to the president. But the government threw out the recommendation on the excuse that such measure would amount to ceding an executive function to the judiciary.

The National Assembly  also upheld the rejection of Justice Uwais recommendations on the appointment of INEC Chairman in its recently concluded review of the 1999 Constitution and the 2006 Electoral Act. This was in spite of pressures from opposition political parties and civil society groups that the lawmakers should undo what the Presidency had done. “What we are saying is that who appoints the chairman has nothing to do with the integrity of the individual and let me tell you further, the NJC you are talking about, with due respect, we know that they have appointed judges in this country; and we know how many of those judges we can vouch for,” Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President and Chairman, Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms, said.

The Senate, however, provided a hint that it is not averse to greater independence for INEC by putting the commission on the first line charge. This implies that it will now receive its budgetary allocations directly from the consolidated revenue of the federation. The amended constitution is currently being discussed by the state Houses of Assembly.

Taking off from where Yar’Adua stopped, President Goodluck Jonathan has used every available opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to the reform of the electoral system and consequently, the conduct of more credible elections in 2011. Immediately after his inauguration as president on 6 March, Jonathan told the nation that “one of the true tests” of his administration “would be to ensure that all votes count and are counted in the upcoming general elections”. While some of the outcomes of previous elections are still being contested in various courts three years after, the victories of many declared by INEC as winners have been nullified by election tribunals. The judgments of the tribunals on the electoral petitions are most times laced with words conveying the disgust of the judges with INEC’s handling of the affected elections.

But curiously, Iwu thought the commission deserved top marks and had indeed embarked on an elaborate plot designed to keep him in office. The plot featured the lobbying of National Assembly members, placement of sponsored articles and advertorials in newspapers and the acquisition of rented crowds  to campaign for him. He met his match in the sturdy labour/civil society coalition, which set upon him. Last March at a rally held at the INEC headquarters in Abuja, the Nigeria Labour Congress and its affiliates said they will call for a national strike if Iwu was given another term in office. Jonathan finally yielded to the agitations for Iwu’s removal as a precursor to having a more credible election in 2011. The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, for instance said Jonathan had taken a “bold and necessary step towards the realisation of credible electoral process” with the removal of Iwu. Joe Okei-Odumakin, President, Campaign for Democracy, said Jonathan has started laying the foundation for credible polls by asking the discredited INEC Chairman to proceed on a pre-disengagement leave. Applause for Jonathan over the sack of Iwu was, however, tempered by concerns over the likely to appointee to the vacant position.

The anxiety over the identity of Nigeria’s new electoral umpire ended on 8 June, when Jonathan presented Jega, who was the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, to the Council of State meeting for ratification. General Muhammadu Buhari, former head of state and two-time presidential candidate, told journalists after the meeting that the candidacy of Jega received unanimous approval from those present at the meeting because Jega is not known to have any partisan political affiliation. Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, also lauded the appointment of Jega, saying the fact that the Council of State unanimously accepted his nomination suggests that Jonathan has exercised his power  judiciously in picking a man as respected as Jega.

Jega came to national prominence as the President, the Academic Staff  Union of Universities, ASUU, between the late 80s and the early 90s. During those years, he led the strike to protest the unwillingness of the Federal Government to implement a new salary scale, being used to pay civil servants, in the universities.  He was arrested and detained for two weeks at Kirikiri Maximum Prison in Lagos by the Ibrahim Babangida administration, which also slammed a ban on ASUU.

Jega’s struggles eventually resulted in the agreement signed between ASUU and the Federal Government under the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan in September 1993.  Jega’s persistence, especially against the Babangida regime, has earned him the reputation of an honest, courageous and principled personality.

The professor of Political Science is also a prolific researcher and author. He is the founding coordinator of the Nigeria Research Group, and the Centre for Research and Documentation in Kano.

In recent times, he has also become a frequent speaker at forums organised to discuss electoral reforms. While explaining the process that led to the emergence of Jega, Jonathan said he consulted widely, but the name of Jega kept coming up. “While I was consulting, his name continued to come up. I never knew he was a radical like that; that he had a rough time (with the government) during his time in ASUU, until I read newspaper reports after I appointed him. If a radical is in INEC, we believe that he will do things for us,” he said.  This must come as a shock, given that the President was a university teacher. While not disputing the fact that the Jega is a man of integrity, the opposition Action Congress, AC, and the Campaign for Democratic Reforms, CODER, have faulted Jonathan for not complying with the recommendations of the Uwais Committee on the manner of appointment of a chairman for INEC. But the presidency has dismissed this criticism, which was also echoed by Uwais in an interview with a national newspaper. According to the presidency, there is no legal basis for Jonathan to use the committee’s prescription for the appointment since the National Assembly has rejected the recommendations.

To tackle corruption within the system, Jega promised to ensure that all proven cases are met with adequate sanctions, while the remunerations of staff will be improved to innoculate them against temptation.

However, he quickly emphasised that having credible elections is not strictly about INEC.  “The key issue is to learn from the mistakes of our past elections. Success of elections depends on the stakeholders and unless we get the support of stakeholders, it will not work,” he said. Even then, the stakeholders have been setting different agenda which, according to them, will make a difference between whether he is a success or failure in office regardless of his pedigree.  “He owes it a duty to himself and the nation to demand a new voters’ register as the minimum requirement for him to succeed on the job,” the Action Congress said in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed. Also,  a political pressure group led by Lagos cleric, Pastor Tunde Bakare, said the take-off point for Jega should be the implementation of critical changes that will restore the confidence of Nigerians in INEC.

The Transition Monitoring Group, an umbrella organisation for civil society groups, which has been monitoring the electoral process, said such changes must include the expulsion of all officers who worked with Iwu and an immediate review of the voters’ register.

Also last week, the European Union said it is time for Jonathan to move from his promise of organising credible elections to put in place the necessary structures for doing so. These, the EU said, include the need for a clear, realistic plan and adequate budget for INEC to enable the register of 80 million voters to be overhauled.  The EU delegation to Nigeria especially noted that time is not on the side of Nigeria.  While expressing its support for the country’s efforts at organising credible elections, the EU delegation noted that free and fair polls hold the key to the country’s socio-economic development.

But will Jega deliver? For now, there are no clear answers. However, what he would not lack is support. At a recent rally of the Save Nigeria Group in Lagos, Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka said: “I know Jega, I believe him. Let Jega know that the world is behind him in any endeavour… But most important of all is that we are working, we are behind Jega and President Jonathan so far as they move in the right direction and carry out the will of the people.”

By Oluokun Ayorinde/Abuja