[size=28pt] Iwu blames violent crimes on politicians[/size]
From MODESTUS CHUKWULAKA, Abuja
Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, yesterday described the sporadic outbreak of violence in several parts of the country as a fallout of political thuggery, just as he took a veiled swipe at Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, for introducing cultism in the nation’s universities.

He said those perpetrating violence in different parts of the country were people who were armed and used as thugs by politicians in the last election, and who for what to do after the elections, have now turned the weapons against their fellow country men and women.

Drawing a parallel between the role politicians play in perpetuating violent crimes and that of an un-named old man in perpetuating violence on campuses, Iwu had, in an apparent reference to Soyinka who recently called for his removal from office, said cultism was dressed in a flamboyant robe and introduced it into the nation’s university system.

“One old man started cultism in our universities when he was young and gave it a flamboyant look,” Iwu said, although he did not identify the old man in the speech which he made in Abuja when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters visited the INEC headquarters.
Noting that there was never a quick-fix approach to deepening democracy, he said “electoral laws are as good as they come,” pointing out that democracy as an on-going process, is never developed in a hurry, hence the practice is to fix the problems as they are identified.

Iwu said electoral reform is a far too important matter to be used as a political tool, adding that it would be a serious political blunder to turn electoral reform into mere political rhetorics. He called for the amendment of the electoral law to stipulate severe sanctions for those who use thugs in elections.
“I don’t think that the quest for power is enough reason for one to take up arms against his fatherland,” he said.

Besides addressing the problem of electoral violence, the INEC chairman also called for reform in aspects of the electoral law that deals with use of money in politics; the mindset which sees politics as do or die affair; gender imbalance in political representation, as well as internal democracy in the political parties.
A situation where people with deep pockets assault the people’s sense of propriety, not because of their superior ideas, but because of the enormous resources at their disposal, the source of which is often doubtful, he said, is not democracy. “People who are not elected or appointed should not determine who should be a leader. This is not what democracy is all about,” he said.

Stressing the need to make the parties internally democratic, Iwu observed that a person who is not democratic in his parties could hardly be expected to be democratic in dealing with another political party, saying that the right place to begin the entrenchment of democracy is in the political parties.
According to him, most parties do not hold meaningful conventions and congresses, and yet claim to be representatives of the people while people deny their party members of the right to vote in congresses. “We should start with our internal democracy, then every other thing will be added to our political reforms,” he said.
The INEC chairman also spoke on arrangement for the conduct of the re-run election in Ekiti South Zenatorial Zone, and said people should go and vote in the election.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/aug/11/national-11-08-2009-005.htm