•Tonnie Iredia
Former Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Professor Tonnie Iredia, has berated governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and other political office holders for defecting to new parties and yet hold on to the seats they won on the platforms of their original political parties.
Iredia compared the behaviour of the defectors to that of Fulani herdsmen, who invade farms to destroy crops but say that the farmers must not complain, reports Nigerian Tribune.
“They are the same as herdsmen. They move about destroying people’s farms and when you confront them, they say I have freedom of movement,” Professor Iredia stated.
Iredia, who is also the Chancellor of Iredia University and former Director, Public Affairs of the Professor Humphrey Nwosu-led National Electoral Commission (NEC), argued that it amounted to “stealing of votes” for a governor to abandon the party that sponsored his election and still keep the seat.
“So, a governor uses one party to win an election, then he defects (to another political party) but keeps the votes. That is stealing.
“Our judiciary should be able to tackle this,” he added.
Iredia was speaking at the 1st Annual Lecture Series of the National Association of Political Correspondents (NAPOC) held in Abuja yesterday to commemorate June 12 and Option A4.
Popularised in Nigeria by Nwosu, Option A-4 was a voting system which allowed the result of an election to be known on the spot.
Speaking on the topic, “The Legacy of Option A-4 and June 12 Election”, he called for the transparency and credibility that went into the June 12 election to be reflected in today’s electioneering.
Iredia observed that, unlike today, when the authorities would give all manner of excuses that cast doubts on the credibility of results, Option A-4 gave the voter an instant result.
“All elections before and after June 12 had problems. So, it was a watershed,” he further submitted, recommending that Option A-4 remained the best method to conduct party congresses and conventions.
He said this was the reason the memory of Professor Nwosu must be immortalised, being the man who introduced Option A-4 into the country’s electioneering, instead of vilifying the man.
He spoke further, “It was clear that the (military) government of the day disowned us (NEC). What happened was that the NEC was suspended.
“Why blame Prof. Nwosu? He did not annul the election. His job was to conduct the election and he did. What else was he expected to do?
“When you saw someone with a gun, you now say, no, you should be courageous?
“It is most annoying that some people at the National Assembly recently objected to a proposal to immortalise Nwosu.”
The event, which was chaired by a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha, also featured presentations by Professor Jideofor Adibe of the Department of Political Science, Nasarawa State University; Professor Abiodun Adeniyi of Baze University, Abuja; former Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku; and Dr Emeka Nwosu, all giving their perspectives on June 12 and Option A4.
“Today, we talk about ‘glitches’, which was impossible in those days. The idea of option A-4 can never be erased in the minds of Nigerians.
“I hope one day Professor Humphrey Nwosu will be immortalised and given proper recognition for the positive role he played with Option A-4,” he said.
Honourable Ihedioha also said, “There is no doubt that our democracy today is sick. I am worried over the legacy we shall be leaving behind. Today, courage has disappeared, and people no longer speak truth to power.”
