As former Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) Prof Humphrey Nwosu goes home this weekend, Okey Maduforo reports on his political life and times and the unfair treatment to the unsung hero of Nigeria’s democracy.
The jubilation across NIgeria was tumultuous when the newscaster of the 4pm Radio Nigeria’ network news announced the results of a substantial number of state in the June 12 1993 Presidential Election between Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC) Alhaji Bashir Tofa .
The news from the results announced that Abiola was leading comfortably and from what was left of the election results, the NRC candidate Tofa stood no chance of upturning the table.
The development as it were then was the bold step taken by the chairman of the electoral body Prof Humphrey Nwosu.
Though the election was annulled it was clear that Abiola won the said election and Prof Humphrey Nwosu wrote his name in the sands of time for that single but all important bold move which today remans a watershed as well as a reference point in the annals of Nigeria’s democracy.
While the country continues to celebrate late MKO Abiola as the acclaimed winner of the said election, Prof Nwosu remains unnoticed and uncelebrated.
Even when successive administrations in the country continued to reflect and postulate on the gains and lessons from that election, Nwosu was left in his cold.
However, on a fateful day, October 20, 2024, in the United States of America, news broke that Prof Humphrey Nwosu had passed on. He was still unsung.
Institutions and projects have been named after Late Abiola with countless lectures, colloquiums and professorial seats instituted in most universities while Nwosu remains sentenced to the abyss of a lone ranger at his country home in Ajali in Orumba North local government area of Anambra State.
Since the announcement of the date of his funeral it has been litany of rage from the South East and in particular Anambra State.
Chief Of Staff to Governor Charles Soludo Chief Ernest Ezeajughi who incidentally is from the same local government area with the late Nwosu re-echoed the issue of the country not being fair to the former NEC Chairman.
He said: “The role he played in the June 12 1993 general election is one that even till today I have not seen any of the INEC chairmen that fits into his shoes.
“I still remember the two buildings of NRC and SDP in all the local government areas across the country and he was a man of integrity and has experience.
“He introduced option A4 which was one of the most credible ways to ensure that our votes counted. We should celebrate that ingenuity, and up till today you see scholars writing books and making references to that style of election.
“It is my view that subscribing to that style of election will not be a bad idea.
“This is because since after that election with all the technology that have so far been introduced such as BVAS and all, we are still not there yet.
“Despite the digitalisation we have not had an election that is near to that so what is wrong in reintroducing it now.
“I have done so many elections in the United Kingdom and I have contested elections abroad so out of the four elections you don’t see this vote buying and you will even know if you are winning or not, so let’s go back to option A4.
“I think that I have a conflict of interest and at the beginning I said that he is my brother and I am from the same Orumba North where he came from and we call him Oka Ome Na Ajali meaning he does what he says.
“I knew him close to home and what he deserves is that accolade and encomium and it is unfortunate that it is being done now that he is dead instead of while he was alive. I agree with you that the country has not been fair to this great icon of our time”
“We still take some aspects of that option A4 in most local elections that we conduct in this country.
“We have to celebrate him posthumously and I urge the new INEC chairman and the federal government to name the INEC headquarters in Abuja after him or even the headquarters of INEC in his home state like Prof Humphrey Nwosu INEC Building. This is my own opinion”
“I also want to recall that he actually facilitated the creation of my local government area Orumba North from the old Orumba local government area and we now have Orumba North and South local government areas of which my father was the Vice Chairman with the headquarters at Ajali his hometown.
“We shall continue to celebrate him and remember all he had done for the local government, the state and the country in general.
“For us, as a government, we have many ways to remember him and it will be a collective decision, not my sole decision and that has to do with the state, the people in general and my local government will not be left out.”
Secretary of Onitsha South local government area Mr Paul Onuachala described the treatment of Prof Humphrey Nwosu as most regrettable.
He stated: “Certainly not. Generally South East heroes and heroines rarely enjoy their fair share of recognition in national affairs. Chief Ralph Obioha lost his bank and others but today nobody talks about his huge sacrifices to the struggle, but his supposed comrades are seen as heroes and heroine.
“Nigeria is supposed to immortalise Nwosu with transparent and credible elections unlike the 2023 charade of elections.”
“Humphrey Nwosu’s legacy speaks for itself since all the major actors agreed that 1993 elections remain the most credible in history.
“Humphrey Nwosu is a national figure. Old Aguata Union is watching carefully but the fact is that, he remains a role model to many. He deserves better accolades than MKO but that may not happen because he is Igbo.
“Posthumous GCFR like Abiola to immortalise him and of course financial compensation for injury suffered.
“Nwosu left legacy of free and credible election in Nigeria’s democratic experiment”
Immediate past Vice President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Chief Damian Okeke could not conceal his disappointment over the fate of late Prof Nwosu.
“It is really sad that a man who placed his life on the line for democracy in our country was treated in such a manner without recourse to the pivotal role that it played in that election,” he said.
“It speaks volume of the level of acceptance of the Igbo man in the Nigerian polity and that is most unfortunate because it shows that the Civil War is not over yet.
“But for us as a people, we shall always celebrate our own in any manner or style that we like irrespective of what the rest of Nigerians feel about it. Funny that recently former INEC Chairman Prof Attahiru Jega was given an appointment by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu despite his performance during his time but someone who conducted the freest, most credible and most transparent election is treated like a villain.”
As Prof Humphrey Nwosu is lowered into mother earth at his country home Ajali in Orumba North local government area, political watchers contend that Nwosu should have a remarkable immortalisation of his name for the sake of posterity.
