INEC And the Perfection of Rigging - Professor Maurice Iwu, INEC Chairman
Daily Trust (Abuja)
COLUMN
February 16, 2007
Posted to the web February 16, 2007
By Adamu Adamu
Nigeria is a nation that has problem with numbers; its political and financial arithmetic never really seem to ever add up right. Figures of its population census are not generally accepted, and, in any case, even at the best of times are not known with any degree of certainty; and, figures of its election results are always disputed with so much vehemence; while the quantum of its foreign debt has for long been a matter of conjecture and guesswork.
This numerophobia and problematic arithmetic is there even in the area of calculating figures for the nation's top foreign-exchange earner-oil. Right now, nobody knows how many million barrels the multinational oil companies declare, how many they lift, how many they pilfer; and how many all the others bunker.
But while foreign debt may eventually be correctly calculated and paid off, and the nation's population accurately determined and accepted by all; and the exploration, production and sale of crude oil may ultimately be fully indigenized and oil revenue correctly known, democracy may never be known until we do get our election right.
Like advance fee fraud, rigging in Nigeria, which here can be taken to mean 'advance vote fraud,' has truly been elevated to an art form; and it is massively indulged in by all those who get the chance and have the ability. Between any two opponents in an election, it is often a question of who can outrig the other; and the winner, in the end, is determined by who had the better chance. Chance in this case usually means incumbency, or being in the party of the incumbent, or securing the cooperation of the security agencies while ability to rig usually means possession of money-lots of money-to give away.
For the moment Obasanjo seems to have a monopoly of both chance and ability-and the need-to rig. That is, if he finds it impossible to actualize his beloved third term dream. In addition, he has the will and the unmistakable design to massively rig the 2007 elections at all levels. And like on the previous occasion, he is going to do so with the full-and enthusiastic-cooperation of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
>more
http://allafrica.com/stories/200702160670.html