INDIA ELECTIONS, A CASE STUDY FOR MAURICE IWU'S INEC?

As the biggest democracy in the world continues with their one month-long general election, Icheoku says Nigeria's Maurice Iwu should pay special attention to understand how India gets it right? With 714 million registered voters going to the polls through a one month period, Icheoku says the electoral body that could pull such a feat is worth understudying? We therefore call on Nigeria's "Independent" Electoral Commission to send some delegation to India to study how the biggest democracy in the world could successfully organise such gargantuan elections without much shenanigans? It is also instructive that for the past 60 years, the Indians have been playing this their yeoman's electioneering feat, without much hitches or as many court challenges of the results, as the 2007 Maurice Iwu's fraud in Nigeria? This by itself is a feat which very electoral body in the world, including Nigeria's INEC is encouraged to see what the Indians are doing right and emulate their example.

As rural as India is, with a widely varying geographic and climatic zones which has somewhat being described as constituting a hellish logistical nightmare; Indians still conduct free and fair elections throughout their vast territory and adjoining islands, from the snow-covered mountains in the Himalayas, to the deserts of the Rajasthan and in sparsely populated islands in the Indian Ocean. India's electoral map is one heck of a maze that it takes an entire one month to conduct elections, in parchments of constituencies? Elections in India is such a huge undertaking that it is conducted in five phases, with voting on April 16, 22, 23, and 30, then May 7 and 13; with the results announced a few days later on May 16, 2009. The undertaking involves 1000 political parties, 800,000 polling stations, 543 constituencies, 1.1 million electronic voting machines manned by four million election officers and six million security details to solely monitor the elections? Icheoku says what a mammoth exercise in electing a leadership?

And this is a country with so many poor people and acute illiteracy among its population, that over 700 million of them still live below poverty line, on less than $2 per day and without basic education? Yet they can organize elections for 700 million of their registered voters! But Nigeria with less than 40 million registered voters cannot organise an election that is free and fair; but qualifies as a "selection of a band of thieves by a band of menacing thugs and their cabals", who subsequently loot the nation's coffers dry? Until there is a re-thinking by the sack of manure in Nigeria high-ups, and with surgical intervention in INEC, it is going to remain same old same old and Nigeria as always, will be worse for it! Inept leadership produced by a fraught electioneering system. Icheoku says, Maurice Iwu's INEC could use some of this Indian magic which has been on display since 1947 and cause it to rub off and change things in Nigeria? One other thing worth emulating from the Indian election, is the practice where each registered voter's picture as well as their identity card are included in the electoral rolls? With this in place, how can there be ghost voters or electoral fraud as obtains in Nigeria?

Pictured right is chief election commissioner of India, Shri. N. Gopalaswami, 62, appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister, who is steering this ocean-liner of an election? He is reputed to be no nonsense, very loyal, honest and dynamic person! Story has it that as one time municipal commissioner of Surat, his party's leader had approached him with

a bribe of 5,000 Rupees but he reported him to the chief minister and had police arrest him for attempt to bribe a government official? Tell that to Maurice Iwu of Nigeria and he will say your head is not correct?

Established in 1950 as a permanent constitutional body, the commission initially had only a Chief Election Commissioner but now has three officials including a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. They reach decisions by a majority vote of 2 to 3. The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. They have tenure of six years or up to the age of 65 years, whichever comes first. They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament. At the state level, the election work is supervised, subject to overall superintendence, direction and control of the Commission, by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State, who is appointed by the Commission from amongst senior civil servants proposed by the concerned state government. The Secretariat of the Commission has an independent budget. Among its duties, India's Election Commission ensures a level playing field for the 1000 political parties. Now it will be easier for Nigeria to model her electoral reform with what works, the Indian example! With India's 1000 political parties as a backdrop, the attempt by the leadership in Nigeria to clobber the whole polity into the PDP should be condemned as an affront to freedom of association?

In India, the opinion of the election commissioner binds the president unlike Nigeria, where the president dictates to him who "wins" which seat? Also the judiciary does not intervene in the actual conduct of the polls. Once the polls are completed and result declared, the Commission cannot review any result on its own. As regards to legal challenges involving the office of the president, such can only be filed before the Supreme Court? India's 35 constituent States and Union Territories are grouped into election blocks for convenience of management. Admitted that INEC allegedly visited India in the past to see how they execute this humongous task, but who knows if it was not just a means to share some estacodes? The conduct of India's election has been described by some observers as the largest single event in the world? Simply stated, the India's model of staggered election will work miracle in Nigeria; and Icheoku says, if India can do it why not Nigeria?