advertisement

2007 elections better than June 12 - Iwu Monday, December 10, 2007 CHAIRMAN, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, has replied his critics on the 2007general election, saying the election was far better than the June 12, 1993 election. advertisement Professor Iwu stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja. He said Nigeria was able to transit from one civilian regime to another for the first time in the history of the country. He added that “it was a sad commentary on our country that the only election we accepted as free and fair was an unsuccessful election, because nobody won and nobody was elected as president.’’ The INEC boss said that in spite of all odds against the smooth conduct of the election, the commission was able to organise free and fair elections that produced winners. “It was sad to say that 2007 elections were the worst elections when we knew what was happening in other parts of the world,” Professor Iwu said. Although he agreed that the 2007 elections were not perfect, Iwu insisted that not only were the elections free and fair, they were conclusive and successful. “The 2007 elections, we agreed, were not perfect; they were a human undertaking. They would n’t have been perfect. But I still maintain to the annoyance of some people that the 2007 elections were free and fair.” The INEC chairman cited a situation where out of eight presidential election cases at the tribunal, six had been dismissed, while two were pending, without establishing any fraudulent cases against the commission.