The language was hard, it was straight and unambiguous and seemingly unbelievable. The target was the largest party in Africa, ruling Nigeria.

One year, one day after the April 2007 polls began, regarded at home and abroad as the worst in the anal of electoral activities in Nigeria, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, descended hard on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a manner that begs for restrain, Iwu, reacting to the spate of nullifications of gubernatorial elections by the tribunals and Appeal Court across the country, mostly of PDP controlled states, declared that PDP was paying for its electoral sins.

Iwu, who, was delivering a lecture at the University of Ibadan (UI) on Tuesday, on “The April 2007 Election in Nigeria, What Went Right”, took a swipe at the PDP while defending, as usual, his commission and absolving it of any blames and culpability in the highly flawed elections.

“The nullification of about six governorship elections by the tribunals are pointers to the fact that the PDP was paying for its electoral sins and such should not be placed at the doorsteps of the commission. The party did not go through the normal process of picking its candidates. It lacked internal democracy…”.
According to Iwu, two other organs of government must be regarded as co-sinners with PDP. These are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) when Nuhu Ribadu was presiding and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice(AGF), when Chief Bayo Ojo held sway.
But the story of Iwu spirited defence of his commission has refused to convince many.

What people readily identified with is the fact that the PDP, being the largest and ruling party failed miserably to lead by example. It failed to appropriate the essential ethos of democracy and party politics. It threw over board internal democracy. Therefore, it was not surprising that as the ruling party, two elections so far conduct with it in government at the centre and many states, none has been without its controversies, excepts that the one of 2003 was a child’s play compared to that of 2007.

SIN OF IMPOSITION
That PDP lacked internal democracy is not debate-able. The stories of how the powers that be in PDP imposed candidates of their choice in the different states made headlines in December 2006. In all the states of the federation, controversies trailed the emergence of its gubernatorial flag bearers.

In particular, three states stood out conspicuously, these are Ekiti, Rivers and bayelsa states. Governor Segun Oni came third in Ekiti, sacked Sylva of Bayelsa just popped out of the blues and became governor. As for Celestine Omehia in Rivers, he was handpicked after incumbent governor Rotimi Amaechi had won the primary but somebody in Aso Rock did not just want to see his face. He was accused of corruption and all what not all in a bid to ensure he did not run.

SACKED GOVERNORS
The fate that befell Chief Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State on Tuesday was not a new thing in the PDP fold. Before him, governors elected on the platform of the party who had lost their positions included Omehia of neighbouring Rivers State, Mr. Andy Uba of Anambra State, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto, Governor Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State and Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State.

Those whose elections have been upturned but awaiting final pronouncements of the Court of Appeal include Governor Oserheimen Osunbor of Edo State, Sullivan Chime of Enugu State and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State.

The grounds for removal of the governors differed from state to state. In Adamawa and Kogi, the judges at both the lower and Appeal Courts had no difficulty coming to the conclusion that the elections conducted on April 14, last year were invalid as candidates of opposition parties nominated by the Action Congress, AC, and the All Nigeria Peoples party, ANPP, respectively were excluded from participation by INEC, acting perhaps on orders or instructions from both EFCC and the office of the AGF. But the Supreme Court was to rule later that INEC had no such powers on April 16 in a case involving former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. The fresh election in Kogi has since been conducted on March 29 in which Governor Ibrahim Idris returned.

In Sokoto State, Alhaji Wamakko was deposed for having been improperly nominated by the PDP. He was said to have picked the PDP ticket at a time that he was yet to withdraw his nomination as the ANPP candidate. He was also said to have failed to resign his membership of the ANPP within the time specified by the Electoral Act. A fresh election is due within 90 days of the verdict of the Appeal Court.

In Rivers, the fight was within the PDP. Sir Omehia who was fielded by the PDP was found to have been invalidly nominated by the PDP. The rightful candidate who won at the primaries conducted by the party in Port Harcourt was the then former Speaker of the State House of Assembly Hon. Rotimi Amaechi. The Supreme Court therefore ruled that Amaechi should be sworn in immediately as the man deemed to have won the election even though he was not fielded as the candidate.

In the case of Anambra State, Andy Uba’s election was upturned because, as the Supreme Court ruled, there was no vacancy at the time that the election was conducted. The tenure of Mr. Peter Obi, who only assumed the office after three years of grueling legal tussle, had not expired. The Court ruled that Obi should resume his rule until March 17, 2010.

For the record, this would be the first time so many governorship elections would be nullified from one single election in the history of Nigeria. This simply shows that those days when parties’ impunity and executive recklessness are over.

It has to be stated here too, that the party lost Imo because it refused to field the candidate that won the primary, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume. PDP settled for Engr. Charles Ugwuh, who came fifth or sixth in the primary. Araraume went to court and at the end of the day, the Supreme Court held that he was the authentic party flag bearer. PDP could not stomach it, then president, Olusegun Obasanjo went to the state and told them that the party would not present a candidate in the election. Many said it was contempt of court, but for a party that has very scant regard for the rule of law then, it did not budge.

Knocks for Iwu
Not withstanding Iwu’s claim in Ibadan, Action Congress (AC) on Thursday knocked the INEC boss for buck passing. AC noted that the statement credited to Iwu blaming PDP, the EFCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) for the failed 2007 general elections amounts to a confession of a man who lacks the courage of his conviction.

AC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said with Iwu’s confession, at a lecture in Ibadan, that the elections were indeed messed up through illegal exclusion of candidates, among others, he is finally seeing the light and coming to terms with what all other stakeholders have been saying about the sham polls.
``It is a mark of shamelessness and lack of principle for Iwu to say INEC was forced to exclude candidates from the polls, a situation that has now become a major ground for reversing the results by the courts.

The truth is that until recently, INEC, the EFCC and the AGF were one and the same, a willing tool in the hands of a vindictive megalomaniac. We recall that in the case of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Iwu claimed that INEC had sought legal opinion, which said he (Atiku) cannot run for president. Therefore, Iwu’s attempt to distort recent history will not save him,’’ the party said, adding that “No good advert can sell a bad product … He should stop insulting Nigerians by attempting to justify the failure of the last polls”.

But PDP seem to have come out that era of impunity and lack of respect for the rule of law. So far, the Administration of President Um,aru Yar’Adua has shown in very clear terms that it has a lot of respect for court rulings and no further interpretations was needed before obeying judgments as the case was withy Bayo Ojo days.

Besides, the race for the chairmanship of the recent PDP national convention was fought on the slogan of restoring internal democracy to the party. Though it did not display that at the Eagles Square, observers believe that things are looking up in a party that have come to be described variously as Papa Deceive Pikin; People Deceiving Party and all sorts of names. If the changes being introduced by the Prince Vincent Ogbulafor led PDP executive persists, perhaps, just perhaps, the unpardonable sin of imposition of unpopular candidates may not happen again in the history of the party.