Victor Ovie Whisky

Justice Victor Ovie Whisky (6 April 1923 – 18 July 2012^[1]) was chairman of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) appointed by President Shehu Shagari during the Nigerian Second Republic. He held office from 1980 to 1983.^[2]

Biography

Whiskey attended King's College Lagos, Yaba Higher College and University College, Ibadan (now University of Ibadan). He worked as a clerk, and for a short period as a teacher, before being admitted to study law at the University of London. He was called to the bar in 1952. He practiced as a lawyer until 1960 when he became a magistrate in Western Region. In 1963 he was appointed chief magistrate of the newly formed Mid-Western Region, renamed Bendel State in 1976.

At the time of Ovie-Whisky's 1980 appointment as head of FEDECO he was the Chief Judge of Bendel State, and was seen as upright and non-partisan. However, the general elections of 1983 were marred by widespread irregularities and the electoral officials were accused of rigging the results in favor of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).^[2] Ovie-Whisky declared that he was largely satisfied with the electoral process in 1983, but said: "We did not expect to be perfect".^[3] He denied wrongdoing, and when questioned by reporters on whether "water passed under the bridge" in the elections, he said that he would faint if he saw N1 million cash.^[4]

In April 2009 the Ijaw Monitoring Group said Ovie-Whisky was in poor health and his condition required urgent attention from the Delta State Government.^[5]

References