Less than three months to the end of Professor Maurice Mmaduakolam Iwu as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has sent him on a pre-disengagement leave. A professor of pharmacognosy, Iwu was appointed chairman of the commission in June, 2005.
Jonathan has consequently directed that the most senior national commissioner in INEC to take over the running of the agency, pending the appointment of a substantive head for it. LEADERSHIP findings revealed that the most senior national commissioner is Barrister Victor Chukwuani, who also hails from the south-east.
Iwu’s tenure, which began five years ago, will expire on June 13. The leave is a mandatory disengagement process for top government officials to prepare them for final rest after service.
Jonathan’s spokesman Ima Niboro said the acting president’s directive is in consonance with Section 155(1) (c), which stipulates that the chairman and members of INEC shall hold office for a period of five years.
“He has also been directed to hand over to the most senior national commissioner, who shall oversee the activities of the commission, pending the appointment of a substantive chairman.”
Jonathan thanked Iwu for his service to the nation and wished him success in his future endeavours.
Iwu became a controversial figure over the 2007 general elections, which was condemned by majority of Nigerians, including the purported winner, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua himself, who said it was full of irregularities. The development led to the setting up of a electoral review panel by Yar’Adua upon his swearing in on May 29, 2007.
Jonathan’s action has finally sealed the desperate lobby by Iwu to secure a second term in spite of strong opposition from political parties, civil society groups and the international community, who believe that Iwu lacks the credibility to conduct free, fair and acceptable elections in 2011.
Born on April 21, 1950 in Umuezeala, Umukabia, Ehime Mbano in Imo State, Iwu attended St. Pius X College, Bodo-Ogoni, for his secondary school education. He studied at the University of Bradford, England, receiving a Master of Pharmacy degree in 1976 and a PhD in 1978.
He was World Health Organisation (WHO) Visiting Scholar to Dyson Perrins Laboratory, University of Oxford (1980), Fulbright Senior Scholar, Ohio State University, and won the U.S. National Research International Prize for Ethnobiolology in 1999. He was a professor of Pharmacognosy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, between 1984 and 1993.
Entering business, Iwu became Vice-President, Research and Development of Tom’s of Maine, a personal care manufacturing company, and member of the Board of Directors, Axxon Biopharm Inc. He served on the board of InterCEDD, Fund for Integrated Rural Development and Traditional Medicine, and Center for Economic and Social Justice.
He was the United Nations Lead Consultant for the development of Nigeria’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Iwu claims to have published more than 100 research articles.
Iwu was President, International Society of Ethnobiology (1996-2002), member and ex-president, the Nigerian Society of Pharmacognosy, member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and member of the International Society for Medicinal Plant Research. He was Executive Director, Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme and a Senior Research Associate at the Division of Experimental Therapeutics of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington D.C.
Iwu was appointed INEC commissioner for Imo State in August 2003 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. In June 2005, he succeeded Abel Guobadia as chairman of the electoral body. Soon after being appointed, Iwu announced that foreign monitors would not be allowed during elections, but only foreign election observers. This decision was condemned by politicians and civil society groups who called for his immediate removal from office.
Reacting to the decision last night, the Action Congress said Jonathan’s decision tallied with the overwhelming views of millions of Nigerians. The party called on the acting president to ensure that whoever is going to replace Iwu is a Nigerian imbued with the highest level of integrity, impartiality and patriotism.