When you were first appointed as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians went berserk with joy and elation because of your record as the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the fact that you were able to face the threat of the then military government of Ibrahim Babangida in the early 1990s. Nigerians saw you as an astute intellectual with a strong sense of ethics, morality and a man of his words.
Nigerians are being oppressed everyday by politicians who do not have anything to offer to move Nigeria forward. They want to win elections by all means and thus, could be looking to put pressure on you to compromise and go against the wish of Nigerians. Many groups had written to you to redeploy the top management and other officials who had been accused of electoral misconducts and bring in people of your calibre who can be trusted but you paid deaf ear and opted to work with the old firewoods which your predecessor left.
That was not actually the problem; the problem was that you made a lot of pledges and that no misconduct would be tolerated. The notable one was the pledge you made that if the number of vote supersedes the number of voters registered in any state, such vote would be cancelled but sir, there were cases like that especially in the presidential election. Why did you not cancel the vote?
Sir, I hereby call on you to rise up to the big task ahead of you. The politicians are desperate; the president and his party are desperate too; all that Nigerians require of you is to create a level ground for all parties. Nigerians are hoping that you get it right come 2015; that may be the only chance you could get to re-polish your image and reputation which you took many years to build.
Waziri Mohammed,
IBB University Lapai, Niger state
