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Atsar Terver
Public Commentator
Port Harcourt
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more articles by Terver

One thing Nwosu is overlooking is the multi-party structure we have on ground. The option A4 was good and easy to manage in a two-party system but its doubtful if it will be effective in a 50-party set up where every party insists to be represented in the vote. We need to look beyond the method of voting to the totality of electoral culture. We did not have god-fathers in Nwosu’s time, elections were not a do-or-die affair, there were no sitting governors gunning for a second term at all cost, no candidates were excluded at any level by state machinery through intimidation and phoney indictments. All these contributed to the successes of  option A4.

 

 

June 12: Nwosu Is On His Own
 by Atsar Terver
 

What do you make of Professor Nwosu’s recent declarations on June 12?
Nwosu is on his own. Nwosu can express his views on June 12 as a private citizen but not in any capacity as the Chairman of the (then) NEC, so standing at a book launch and announcing the results of the June 12 Election was in my estimation caricaturist. In fact strictly speaking, that action was illegal since the court order, which Iwu claimed, he obeyed by not releasing that result earlier has not been vacated by another court order. Or is there a clause in our constitution that after 15 years, a valid court order can be disobeyed with pomp and impunity?

His actions bespeak comedy. We need to critically assess the intent of his utterances against he prevailing political situation in the country. I think Yar’Adua’s rule of law has created an environment in which people can freely express their views without fear of intimidation or harassment, but in exercising this freedom we need to be conscious of our duty to leave a correct historical heritage for our younger generations. Nwosu did not state any new fact by insisting that Abiola won the election. The only new information from Nwosu is the declaration that IBB did not annul June 12! The wilful and deliberate distortion of facts for whatever reason is despicable. There is actually no question as to who annulled the June 12 1993 Election. Most Nigerians in there thirties (and above) must have heard the announcement on radio by the then Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida(alias IBB) on June 23rd 1993 cancelling the historic elections. Newspapers which carried the story, local and international electronic media would still have recordings of that speech in their archives. IBB himself has in previous interviews owned up to the actions of his government as regards June 12 and even apologised for it. With an officer like Colonel Umar who together with some twenty-nine other officers, protested the annulment with a notice of their intention to retire, still alive, its difficult to understand how Nwosu intended to sell his lie to the public successfully. This is not to say that there was no powerful clique in the Army then, that may have pushed IBB to do what he did, but that will not exonerate him from responsibility because, he was the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that was where that bulk stopped.

Are you saying the Professor’s book is useless?

Not exactly. You see I have not read the book yet and its very unlikely I will be keen on reading this book if I eventually lay my hands on it due to the bad taste his preamble has created. Having said that, I would like to add that there is always a place for books of this nature for the sake of history and documentation. Several accounts for example exist of the Nigerian civil war, which ended before my birth notable among them are Alex Madiebo's "The Biafran Revolution and the Nigerian Civil War", John de St Jorre’s "The Brothers' War" Obasanjo's "My Command". From these accounts one is served a balanced account of the events leading up to and during the war and of course helps to mould one’s perception of his country’s past. Any serious future politician would need to have a full grasp of the politics of June 12, in order to play politics in Nigeria. So it is not only unpatriotic but also very wicked to blatantly distort facts and then document them the way Nwosu has attempted to do.

What do you think is driving Nwosu? Some people believe he was sponsored by some powerful politicians to sell IBB to the electorate sponsored him…

Well, In Nigeria anything is possible. Our political market is so money driven that almost any ‘big man’ with the cash would find a salesman. But it would be unfortunate if IBB is behind Nwosu because, I don’t personally believe he needs to go this route if he wants the Presidency again. The Babangida that I know is simply too smart to fall so cheaply into a trap. I suspect it is IBB’s enemies that are sponsoring Nwosu. It’s calculated to paint IBB as a coward, who as C-I-C could not take control of government machinery at a very critical period but succumbed to intimidation from officers (and some civilians) under him. It is engineered to cast IBB in the mould of an irresponsible leader who would shift the bulk to his juniors. But this is simply not true. IBB has owned up to June 12 long ago. However I am waiting for him to come out openly and disown Nwosu’s comments regarding his role in the annulment. What Nigerians need to hear is not denial but a humble admission of error and a genuine apology with a pledge to do things differently if given another chance and I can bet you IBB can be president again.

Would you support IBB in the next election?

I did not support him during the 2007 election even though he backed out later. But this is not to say that he is not good to be president again. It was simply because the presidency can only be occupied by one person at a time and at that time my support was for Atiku. But the way Yar’Adua is going about governance its very likely he will get my vote in the next election if he contests.

But I wish to comment that some people have unfairly decided to place a bad tag on IBB out of hate and jealousy.  But fortunately most Nigerians would tell you that IBB’s military government was more benevolent to the nation than the veiled dictatorship we had in the eight years of OBJ. Yes he must have made one or two mistakes, but this is human. OBJ made mistakes in his first regime too. Apart from canceling June 12, there is nothing IBB did that OBJ did not do in his first regime. OBJ was rescued directly from prison as an ex-convict and sent straight to the presidency. OBJ was never against the annulment of June 12 elections for which we wish to crucify IBB but that did not deny him a second chance. Rather he was the major beneficiary of the whole game. I can bet you that if June 12 were not cancelled, OBJ would never have smelled the reins of power a second time. 

We have historical accounts of past leaders who got a second chance despite their mistakes. Look at Uganda’s Obote.As prime minister, Obote was implicated in a gold smuggling plot, together with Idi Amin, then deputy commander of the Ugandan armed forces. When the Parliament demanded an investigation of Obote and the ousting of Amin, he suspended the constitution, abolishing the roles of leaders of Uganda's five tribal kingdoms and giving himself almost unlimited power under state-of-emergency rulings; he had several members of his cabinet arrested. But later Obote's judiciary cleared him of the gold-smuggling charges, but the episode created tensions between him and Mutesa, who was critical of Obote for suspending the constitution. Obote staged a coup against Mutesa and had himself declared president on March 2, 1966. His nominally socialist rule made him unpopular with the Western powers, particularly Britain, and his regime was greatly destabilized by the military. In 1971 he was deposed by his army chief, Idi Amin, after which he fled to Tanzania. The elections that gave him a second term were rigged, leading to guerrilla rebellion by Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army and several other military groups. Obviously IBB has not done half as badly as Obote to deny him a second chance.

Back to Nwosu, he suggested return to Option A4, what is  your take on this?

One thing Nwosu is overlooking is the multi-party structure we have on ground. The option A4 was good and easy to manage in a two-party system but its doubtful if it will be effective in a 50-party set up where every party insists to be represented in the vote. We need to look beyond the method of voting to the totality of electoral culture. We did not have god-fathers in Nwosu’s time, elections were not a do-or-die affair, there were no sitting governors gunning for a second term at all cost, no candidates were excluded at any level by state machinery through intimidation and phoney indictments. All these contributed to the successes of  option A4.

 

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