IT has come to the knowledge of the Independent National Electoral Commission that there is a calculated attempt by some individuals to create confusion in the polity by manipulating facts regarding the last general elections. This is in respect of the printing of ballot papers for the elections
—Pastor Shegun Adeogun, Director, Public Affairs, INEC Headquarters, Abuja, in THISDAY, February 1, 2008, p56.
PASTOR Adeogun then proceeded to "set the record straight" as the following excerpts from the advertorial would show. First, he claimed, "for the avoidance of doubt and to be on the safe side, INEC gave the handling of the ballot papers to the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC). INEC has said this over and over again and has never shifted its position because that is the truth. And truth is constant." Then, Pastor Adeogun, there is a reason for repeating "pastor" as will be clear shortly, followed by stating the following.
"The needless confusion being created by some persons that the said papers were being printed in South Africa which, in their own warped estimation and reasoning, amounts to INEC physically going to South Africa to engage in the printing of the ballot papers or directly awarding contracts to a South African company smacks of nothing more than crass ignorance and, if not, then total disregard for sincerity (italics mine)". Pastor Adeogun made other uncomplimentary remarks about those who maintained that INEC went to South Africa. But, let us pause here for now and ask just three questions.
First, is Pastor Adeogun really a staff of INEC or was the said advertorial placed by someone impersonating him? Second, is he really a pastor and does he know the meaning of the word "truth"? Is Pastor Adeogun, director, public affairs, INEC headquarters, Abuja, aware of the existence of The Official Report of the 2007 General Elections, hereafter simply referred to as 'the Report', published by INEC, circulated by the Commission and signed by the chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu? All these questions are pertinent for reasons that will be disclosed shortly based on excerpts from the Report. On page 5 of that Report, INEC had this to say. "A major and unprecedented political crisis, in which a ruling party split, with an incumbent vice-president contesting for the presidency under another party (sic) platform, threw up not only a heavy political dust but also serious constitutional questions.
The legal tussle that emanated from this unprecedented development was not resolved till five days to the presidential elections. The Commission was compelled to print a new set of ballot papers for the presidential election, which arrived in Nigeria only hours to the commencement of the polls and had to be distributed to the more than 120,000 polling units located in 8,800 wards of the country, some of them located in extremely difficult terrains (italics mine)".
While that does not prove that INEC had anything to do with the award of the contract or that they were printed in South Africa, it was, at least, an admission that the ballot papers were printed outside Nigeria. But, how did the ballot papers get to their destinations nationwide in such a short time, that is, if they got everywhere at all?
Page 6 of the Report gave us the explanation. On that page, the Report referred to what it called "the heroic role played by the various services of the Nigerian Armed Forces in distributing the ballot papers across the country the night preceding the election and in the early morning of the election day". Since I attended Jankara University, my understanding of English is not up to par; what we were taught in our own university was pure street wisdom. But, one does not have to undergo a full course in logic at Harvard or Cambridge, to understand what INEC is claiming (or, is it admitting?) here.
When the ballot papers arrived in Nigeria, they were handed over to the Armed Forces for distribution; which is another way of saying they were handed over to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Olusegun Obasanjo, an interested party and somebody who was on record for claiming that the election was a "do-or-die affair." There will be another confirmation of this secret development later in the Report.
On page 30 of the Report, we read the following. "The ruling of the courts, especially that of the Supreme Court, which was delivered on April 16, 2007, five days to the election, put enormous strain on the logistic resources of the Commission. Additional ballot papers had to be printed for the Presidential Election. This proved to be a daunting task, given the proximity to the polls date. However, the Commission prevailed in printing and freighting the ballot papers to Nigeria on Friday, April 20, 2007, i.e. the eve of the election. In fact, the last cargo that brought ballot papers touched down at Lagos Airport at 10.00 p.m, April 20, 2007, the eve of the election.
In a very determined bid to ensure that the elections were held as scheduled, the Commission embarked on a massive effort using Air force jets. Again, let's pause and take note of two facts which the Report established. First, "the Commission prevailed in printing and freighting ballot papers to Nigeria". There is no mention of the NSPMC or "the Mint" here. Any reasonable person would be correct to assume that INEC performed the miracle on its own. Second, what was claimed as a great achievement in the Report is now being denied by Pastor Adeogun.
Third, we, again, are informed of the involvement of the Air Force, which was under the direct control of Obasanjo, in handling the ballot papers. This third admission is, to my mind, an even more serious self-indictment by INEC of the manner the elections were conducted. Instead of an independent electoral commission, what we had was one that allowed a president, hell bent on winning the elections at all costs, free access to interfere in its operations. As if that were not sufficient self-indictment, please, escort me to page 31 of the Report. On that page, all the elements putting the lie to Pastor Adeogun's claims were brought together in such a way that only a dunce or a compulsive liar would miss the point.
Here it goes.
"The election held peacefully and successfully, though. The Commission was not alone in the determination to hold the elections as scheduled. The former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, gave the Commission every support in this connection. At a very short notice, the President approved additional money to print fresh set of ballot papers for the Presidential Elections when the Supreme Court gave its ruling a few days to Election Day"(italics mine again).
Here again, we note how close INEC was to the Presidency, where an interested party was waiting. Furthermore, INEC did not disclose if the additional funds were part of the package the National Assembly has approved or they were provided by the President without the National Assembly's approval. More likely, this was another example of lawless executive branch conduct, for which Obasanjo had become notorious. But, a more detailed discussion of that aspect of the Report needs not delay us now. We have something more urgent to look into.
Page 31 continues, "He [Obasanjo] followed this up by providing Presidential jet for the relevant officials of the Commission[i.e INEC] to travel to South Africa to negotiate for the immediate printing of the ballot papers [italics mine again]". There is more to come. But, at this point, let us return to the original questions posed regarding the status of Pastor Adeogun. Is he a staff of INEC? Is he a pastor? Is he aware of the Report? We now know that INEC officials went to South Africa and the Report did not mention that there were "Mint" officials in the entourage.
So, where is "Pastor" Adeogun's sincerity? We also know that INEC officials engaged in negotiations. So, where is the truth "Pastor Adeogun claims in his advertorial? Still, the matter is not finished. The self-damning page 31 made even more revelations about how Obasanjo either tricked Iwu into surrendering the ballot papers to the Armed Forces under him or Iwu went into a conspiracy with the former President to allow that to happen.
Please read on the story as told by INEC itself. "He (Obasanjo), also put at the disposal of the Commission institutional support, including security agencies especially the Nigerian Air Force and the Navy to ensure distribution of the ballot papers on the eve of the elections. They are as follows:
1. Air Commodore A.O. Ayeni, Commander, 88 Military Airlift Corps.
2. Group Captain H.C. Ifezue, Deputy Director, Regiment, Nigeria Air Force Headquarters.
3. Group Captain Mohammed Umar, Deputy Director, Defence Headquarters.
4. Captain Shehu Usman Iyal, Special Assistant to the President on Aviation.
On a sad note, a naval helicopter together with its crew on Friday, April 20, 2007 crashed near Owerri Airport in their frantic bid to meet up with the distribution of balloting instruments." Thus, we were informed that from the time the ballot papers for the Presidential elections were printed to the time of voting, they were in Obasanjo's custody.
On a minor note, since the helicopter crashed with election instruments, including ballot papers, on board, we were not told how the voters in the destination area got to vote. Were the votes allocated by compromised INEC staff or what happened? We end almost where we started. "Pastor" Adeogun wrote that: "Truth is constant." I agree. The problem is he does not know the truth himself.
P.S. Wait for more on INEC. It's a sizzler!! |
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