By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Electoral umpires in Nigeria have a long history of dalliance with academics so much so that it has almost become a rule for a professor, the discipline notwithstanding, to be appointed chairman. Granted, some non-academics sometimes find themselves in the saddle, but that is more of an exception.
*Prof Amupitan
So, the 1959 federal election, which preceded independence, and was strictly the business of the departing colonial overlord – Britain – was conducted by the Electoral Commission of Nigeria, ECN, which was inaugurated in 1958 and headed by a British, Ronald Edward Wraith.
After independence in October 1960, the Tafawa Balewa-led government set up the Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO, which replaced the ECN and in 1964 appointed Mr Eya Esua as the chairman. Though not a professor, Esua, nevertheless, was a reputed teacher.
