My Eye-Witness Account Of Professor Maurice Iwu's Briefing At The National Press Club And Nigerian Chancery In Washington DC On December 18, 2007

By

Dr. Tamuno Jonathan

MARYLAND, USA  

tamunojonathan@yahoo.com

This piece is intended to give a full and objective account of my recollections of the proceedings at the National Press Club and Nigerian Chancery in Washington DC on December 18, 2007 where Professor Maurice Iwu (the INEC Chairman) had briefed members of the international media and the Nigerian Diaspora and released the official report of the 2007 elections. I will also rebut some assertions made by one Mobolaji Aluko, who attended the limited briefing at the Press Club in the morning but not the expanded reception held at the Nigerian Embassy (Chancery) in Washington DC later in the evening.

The first briefings commenced at about 11 A.M Eastern Time (USA) and in attendance were well over hundred people, including several Caucasian Americans, but seemingly the Nigerian Diaspora was in clear majority. I gathered later that hundreds of Nigerians who had intended to attend were misadvised about the actual time of commencement to have been shifted to 12.30 PM, instead of the initially set time of 10 AM. I confirmed this because at the close of the briefing, I noticed that so many Nigerians were still filing in, and a few of them that got lucky to still have Professor Iwu on the premises had to make do with exchange of pleasantries with him and got some photo-ops with him and members of his high delegation. Generally, it was a pleasant atmosphere, and I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of people (including me) were inclined to having their minds changed about INEC after listening to what Iwu had to say and reading the Report.

The proceeding was moderated by Professor Iwu’s Press Secretary (Andy Ezeani) and Sunny Ofilli, who were both very kind to everybody who sought to speak or ask questions. Both moderators allowed too much leverage to some people who I suspected just wanted to have a go at Iwu for no reason other than losing elections or wanted to take a cheap shot at a great man like Iwu. I am not sure that I would have allowed them such space were to have moderated the event. Though, I observed that Professor Iwu wanted the proceedings to be interactive and he was determined to give everyone the opportunity to speak or ask questions including even those that appeared to have been planted by interests hostile to him and INEC, like Mobolaji Aluko. Aluko has confirmed that he harbored festering animosities towards Iwu by admitting to his support of Buhari’s presidential bid in an essay he just published on his own politically sponsored website. I will send this one to his website and I dare him to publish it if got the courage. Here is what Aluko said (referring to Iwu’s statements) “He (Iwu) said that INEC had THE BEST FACILITIES in Africa to run any elections; that on the eve of the elections, everybody including Gowon and Buhari and the Council of State   testified to his readiness. [That is true:  I watched that TV drama; Buhari lost my support on that day for not seeing through that charade.]” To this Aluko guy, I ask you this: If you were supporting Buhari, and he lost your support merely because he confirmed along with many others that INEC had the requisite preparedness to conduct free and fair elections, is it Atiku you are supporting now as you seemed to have suggested when you stated in the same essay under reference that (again referring to what Iwu had said): “He (Iwu) stated that power-drunk people with deep pockets - aka Abubakar Atiku, without naming him -  were prepared to drag the country down, and even infiltrated his INEC”. Here again is a desperate distortion of the true meaning of what Iwu’s remarks had meant. Atiku is not the only Nigerian with deep pockets opposed to Iwu, Obasanjo or President Yar’Adua. That Professor Iwu never named Atiku yet Mr. Aluko is now imputing it to him is very revealing and clearly points to an evil design on the part of Aluko, apart from confirming that he might have set up his website just to attack Professor Iwu, INEC and Nigerian government as presently constituted. That said, let me now tell you the rest of the story, and here they go:

First - In his oral presentations, Professor Iwu waxed very eloquent, convincing, and credible and much of what he said as well as the contents of the official report tallied with events that occurred in Nigeria at the time (it was all over Nigerian newspapers and Blogs). It is true as Iwu stated that a brazen and open attempt was made to firebomb INEC headquarters in Abuja at a critical point to the presidential elections. If Aluko does not know it, he should be told that INEC headquarters is a repository of sensitive information and materials necessary for the successful conclusion of the presidential elections. And it is the place where human beings (all of them our fellow Nigerians) including all the 12 National Commissioners and staff sit. It is callous of Aluko to belittle the firebombing attempt because if it had succeeded, we would have lost all critical materials meant for the presidential election and perhaps the entire 12 INEC national Commissioners, not to talk of the mammoth bureaucratic staff that had nothing to do with a bitter wrangling between murderous politicians. This is the issue, and all well-meaning Nigerians must appreciate the import and ask the pertinent questions on what clearly had the markings of national tragedy to be compared in horror to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Second - Everybody who made remarks or asked questions conducted themselves well and expressed their agreement with most of what Iwu had to say, and agreed also that Iwu and INEC indeed had to function under an environment of extreme political tension. Except for one gentleman from Abia State who embarrassed himself for stating that on the day of the voting, he was going from ward to ward looking for Electronic Voting Machines (EVS) that Iwu had promised and that he did not see any EVS and then suggested he lost the election because Iwu failed to allocate EVS to his Senatorial district but allocated to his opponents for their private use. When he was asked the party platform he contested under, he said it was the DPP. He was then told that he might have lost because he was not ready for the election having staked his hopes on some Electronic Voting Machines the Nigerian National Assembly had disallowed. Another participant pointedly told him that the second reason for his loss was probably because DPP is not known to be on the ground in Abia – a state where only the PDP and PPA are known by everybody to be the parties to beat. The second guy – one Banjo (sitting next to and occasionally whispering with Aluko) claimed to have contested for the Governorship and that PDP thugs had harassed him and sought to murder him, and he blamed Iwu for this incident. When Iwu asked him his party platform, he stated that it was the NCP. When he was asked the name of his Resident Electoral Commissioner, he stated to general laughter that he did not know (NOT that he did not remember). Yet again, when he was asked if he reported the PDP attempt to murder him to the police, he said no, and that was enough for him. The man, having realized what he just did to himself in the name of Iwu-bashing, just sat down promptly and remained silent and sullen thereafter. The Alex Okeke claimed by Aluko to have criticized Iwu at the hallway of the Press Club also actually committed a grievous error by blaming Iwu for ruining Anambra State by declaring Ngige winner in 2003 over Peter Obi. And he made things worse when he too claimed to be an International Observer (like those from the EU). When one Nigerian Professor with a Northern Muslim name told him that it was Abel Guabadia (NOT Maurice Iwu) that conducted the 2003 elections and declared Ngige winner, he just walked away, muttering something to the effect that ‘Andy Ubah should leave Peter Obi alone’. Those of us within earshot just chuckled in amazement at this stark evidence of the misunderstanding and misinformation that had long propelled those attacking Professor Iwu and we needed no further justification for Iwu’s decision to release the election report and engage his attackers on their turf.

Third – The Nigerian Diaspora that gathered at the Chancery later that evening praised Iwu and INEC for transiting Nigeria despite difficulties. At the Nigerian Embassy (where the Nigerian Diaspora gave Iwu a rousing reception), the guy named Banjo (again) rose up and said that he did not know whether it was true that Iwu refused to take financial assistance from the EU (Iwu never called it a “bribe” as Aluko falsely stated in his essay). And continuing, Banjo attracted the ire and rebuke of Ambassador Baraya because he went out of line by raising his voice at everybody who sought to caution him to mind his language. The Ambassador chided him and said something to the effect that ‘raising your voice does not raise your sense’ - to general laughter. The man promptly left in embarrassment. Back at the Press Club, Mr. Aluko had attempted to filibuster the proceedings by employing fuzzy math to say that the number of election petitions now is greater than in 2003, and he attempted to get personal with Iwu, all at once (calling Iwu ‘professor’ with a slight derision in his voice). He also seemed to suggest that the South East dominates the ranks of past Chairmen of INEC and he started reeling out names of all Igbos who had held that position, conveniently omitting others who are non-Igbo. At this point, a good number of Nigerian Diaspora present challenged Aluko and told him to shut up but Professor Iwu told them to leave him be. And when finally Professor Iwu took Aluko up on the miss-compared statistics he cited as evidence; he just nodded and resumed his seat, remaining quiet throughout. Now, having read what Aluko had to say on his website, I am convinced that he harbors some tribal animosity towards the Igbos. Here is what he said “All the people who asked questions - except maybe three of us  - might as well all have been from Imo State, possibly even from Iwu's village, maybe all with the last name of Iwu but with pseudonyms”. This is vintage Aluko, always railing against anything Igbo and South East. Pray, what does a person expressing his opinion on a presidential election won by a Yar’Adua from the North (Katsina State) have to do with being Igbos from Imo State?  Or, why does Aluko find something negative to say about everybody and organization that as much attempts to express a positive view about Nigeria? Just go to the web, and if you google Aluko’s write-ups, you will see his consistent diatribes against Nigeria and her public institutions. Why would Aluko say that he called on President Yar’Adua to fire Iwu, knowing fully well that he is also challenging the legitimacy of President Yar’Adua’s election? Scatter brains. Iwu is right when he said that “it is not right to keep the baby and throw away his mother”.

Fourth - Aluko (and his ilk) seem to harbor some guilt about aiding and abetting the conspiracy to stop the election as he revealed in his essay. Here is what Aluko said (i.e. referring to what Iwu’s remarks), “He (Iwu) stated that some people in Washington, colluding with some Nigerians in Washington - and looking slightly towards me - colluded against Nigeria”. So, here you have it folks. Now judge for yourselves why Iwu’s allegations had to make Aluko uncomfortable. Iwu did not ‘slightly’ look to anybody’s direction. He made eye contact with the crowd and waxed emotional and patriotic when he condemned such conspiracy against “my country” (which were the words Iwu used to refer to Nigeria – it was admirable, my eyes misted too). People sighed and nodded in agreement, and Aluko squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. I think it was James Hardly Chase that said that “the guilty are afraid”. As for the millions of Euros and EU’s request for biometrics data of Nigerians Iwu had rejected, everyone who spoke up both at the Press Club and the Embassy praised Iwu’s stance and agreed that he did the right thing. And I agree because Nigeria does need the ugly foreign interference that comes with such demeaning grants. And I know better because I have had to reject grants to do research in Nigeria that gave me terms of reference that looked like compelling me to carry out acts of high espionage against my native country. Nigeria is not too poor not to be able to finance her elections. Additionally, it will be an egregious breach of Nigeria’s national security to turn over the biometric data of over 60 million Nigerians to all manners of foreign governments in Europe. Even in the US (where Aluko resides permanently) and the same EU that demanded our private data, citizens have fought the right of their government to hold or create any national biometric data based on fingerprinting, except on occasions where a citizen committed a felony or some foreigner applied for immigration benefits. Why would Aluko suggest that Nigerians and Iwu should have gone willy-nilly to turn over our biometrics to Europeans merely because we want their 40 million Euros (peanuts) and their stamp of approval on our election process? If Nigeria cannot go to our foreign reserves to get the money, than 1000 Nigerian Diasporans can contribute 40 thousand Euros each to pay for our elections (assuming there is nobody or private institutions amongst our 25 recapitalized banks that can cough up the money).

Fifth – Iwu’s patriotism and pride as a Nigerian are clear and credible and it makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Some proof found when Aluko visibly became agitated and uncomfortable each time Iwu mentioned Nigeria in glowing terms, such as calling Nigeria “my country” with an emotional tinge to his voice. Ditto for when Iwu said “the God that I serve”. Go and read Aluko’s essay and see for yourself (too much to quote here). Everything he said on that essay raises uncanny questions about the true motives of his diatribes against Nigeria, INEC and Iwu. If you read his many internet essays, you will also see further evidence of this and a growing pattern of targeting people from a certain area of Nigeria. First, Aluko railed against Okonjo Iweala, and then Soludo of CBN, and now Iwu (all Igbos and competent to boot). And regarding the press briefing, Aluko defamed everyone else who appeared to have been swayed by Iwu, and he attacked even those that said nothing (Aluko went inside their minds and imputed something to them). For Dr. Amanze Obi, who was given the honor of the high table because he traveled from Nigeria and he chairs the Editorial Board of a major National Daily, Aluko accused (without proof) of having his way paid for by INEC, forgetting that just like other Nigerians and journalists present, Amanze perfectly held the right to be there either as floor member or member of the high table. As for Dr. (Colonel) Bello Fadile, Aluko sought to discredit him by going back in time to allege that he (Fadile) betrayed Obasanjo to Abacha, and thankfully, Aluko even admitted that he lied to Fadile after calling him a nice guy. And Robert Ngwu, the NIDO leader, Aluko called him a liar merely because he was in a long forgotten power tussle with Ola Kassim (who humored Aluko with his first prominence in NIDO). Ngwu’s instant crime seemed to comprise of expressing his bold own views. The list goes on, including Aluko’s attempt to discredit his long-time friend, Ugo Harris, and he (Aluko) revealed a clumsy attempt to set the Nigerian media against Ugo merely because Ugo disagreed with him and remarked that the Nigerian press should ask questions beyond just criticizing Iwu. And the most important points missed by Aluko occurred at the Embassy later that day where Iwu met with hundreds of Nigerian Diaspora, who congratulated him in glowing terms for a job well-done. And it was there that the acting Ambassador spoke up on his disappointment on how somebody conducted himself (meaning Aluko, undoubtedly), and other embassy staff spoke in patriotic terms as well and joined in the chorus to cease and desist from running Nigeria down for the sake of the raging ambitions of one or two politicians that lost an election. Iwu, hang in there.