The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu, has said only the military can conduct free and fair elections in the country.
The INEC boss spoke Thursday at a public hearing on a bill to establish a Commission to register political parties in Nigeria .
“If we had dictatorship, we would have a free and fair elections; the elections that Nigerians have endorsed and craved for, were organised under the military. The fact that it was organised by the military makes it undemocratic.
“Democratic elections are never flawless. They have problems. And we have to be able to know that the whole process of democratisation includes the noise. Includes all that we are here for, and we should bear that in mind”, he said.
The Chairman of the National Conscience Party, NCP and the President of West Africa Bar Association (WABA), Mr. Femi Falana, said unless the Constitution and the INEC is “completely” independent of political manipulations, there would never be free and fair elections in the country.
He regretted that Nigeria has continued to be a byword for fraudulent elections in Africa and the world.
“Elections in Nigeria have become a perennial source of colossal embarrassment for the country. Nigeria has become a reference point in the world, when it comes to bad elections. I, therefore, appeal to you, to put sentiments apart, and save the country, so that democracy can be strengthened, because if what happened in 2007 is repeated in 2011, we pray that we do not go into war.
“If the electoral body so structured cannot conduct election in 1/3 of a state like Ekiti, you can imagine what will happen in 2011. Ten thousand soldiers were deployed, not to talk of percentage of soldiers deployed. Imagine doing that in 36 states at the same time, we are asking that this amendment we are proposing be accepted,”he added.
Falana, who used Ghana as an example of credibility in the electoral process, recalled that the country’s ex-President, Mr. John Kuffor, could not manipulate the process to sponsor his candidate even when he was leading by 47.3 per cent (just a little short of the 50 per cent requirement) as against his opponent’s 43 per cent, the president didn’t summon INEC “to help” with the results.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/08/14/only-military-can-conduct-free-fair-polls-in-nigeria%e2%80%94iwu/

Thats a foolish and dangerous thing to say.

If the military doesn't like the election results they can just annul them.

If Iwu is scared to do his job he should quit.

ibb is planning a come back,this is a script,nl will say i said it

Another Chicken talking.

This has to be the most unguarded, undemocratic and unpatriotic statement that has come out of the INEC czar thus far. For one that had rose to the status of an academic professor, it begs the question where his intellectual inspiration emanates from. This is not meant to be demeaning, but for someone saddled with the responsibility of conducting free, fair, transparent and credible elections for the country to be credited with such a statement, I believe he has shown his obvious incompetence to man the sensitive and critical position that he currently enjoys. The honorable thing left for him to do is to resign and let some other person assume the responsibility of conducting elections for the country, without the input of the military if I might add.

and this man is the electoral commission chairman?

A very stupid thing to say. Why can't he suggest other alternative ideas like fingerprinting of anyone wishing to vote and making it known the state in which you live now when you register your fingerprint is where you would vote but in any local government area in order to reduce the risk of getting bullied to vote for a specific person. The ballots should be counted there in camera view for each place of voting and any person in the community wishing to be present but with security measures in open view. That day alone should have INEC beam each ballot site center and activities to the local govt it is taking place that would be the station in a lot of channels for in that immediate area. Maybe three days before the election, they should install the finger print identifier something as compatable as an atm machine on the supposed polling ground with mobile not stationary police/security checking IDs at the entrance away from the identifier itself probably in a class with another police/ security in the area with election officals ready to give you directions incase of any misunderstanding say you forgot you did you fingerprint in another state and because you are in lagos the system did not identify you but if you really did, the national system will recognize you and with the knowledge of overview, the election officals can direct you as to how to get prepared if you are intrested in participating. This can also decrease fraud but can't eliminate it unless people change their mind. It can decrease fraud by; knowing that is one vote for one person in the sense that if you identify yourself during the election day and you drop two results there's going to be a red flag on how come many 2 people voted and we have three results or 3people voted and we have 2 results. Another instance would be say your fingerprint appeared in different areas on that day then the security will talk to you and surveillance cameras for that day should be able to prove your own part of the story and then they can void the rest count from other sites.
Another place is the site of voting which should be strictly in schools(mostly elementary and secondary) and public squares. Any disturbances two miles or from any election site to where there are many road outlets should be covered by the police. The police should not be allowed to tell you anything except when called for assistance by the election offical and their presence should not going to be overwhelming on the site but around the site.
Just wish Iwu can find a way of implementation that is fair and just. May God bless Nigeria o.

Where did they get this guy from?!