The Federal Government on Friday further
compounded fears in some quarters that the
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, could be sacked
before the general elections.
In an answer to enquiries on government’s stand
on allegation that the INEC boss would soon be
asked to proceed on a terminal leave, the
Federal Government through the Minister of
Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief
Edem Duke, gave a rather ambiguous answer.
He said the exit of Jega from the chairmanship
of the INEC would take a natural course. Duke,
who is also the supervising Mtinister of
Information, spoke with journalists at the
headquarters of the Ministry of Information in
Abuja on Friday.
While answering a question on whether the
Federal Government planned to send Jaga on
terminal leave before the expiration of his tenure
in June, Duke said Jega would not be sacked as
President Goodluck Jonathan had pledged, but
added that his exit from the electoral body would
be a natural sequence.
The minister said, “On the issue of the INEC
chairman, I align myself with what the President
said that he has no plan to sack the INEC
chairman.
“That is not to say that if it is time for the INEC
chairman to naturally exit his office, then the
natural course of things will not take place.
“It is like saying a civil servant has done 35
years or achieved the age of 60; we now begin
to say that he must not retire or he must retire. I
think all of that is in the terrain of the
Presidency and he has spoken. I have nothing to
add to that.”
Duke added, “I will also like to say once on that
issue. I recall that for several weeks now; people
keep threatening the President on the shift in the
date of the poll. You begin to wonder that parties
have a couple of extra weeks in order to
reinvigorate their campaigns and try to reach as
many voters as possible. Rather than do that,
you begin to identify imaginary pockets of
unlikely developments and then focus your
attention on them and then when you lose
election, you begin to complain.”
But members of the All Progressives Congress in
the Senate and the Northern Elders Forum said
that they would resist alleged plot to sack the
INEC boss.
The senators had on Thursday alleged that there
was a fresh plot by the Federal Government to
prevent Jega from superintending over the
forthcoming general elections.
The Northern Elders Forum warned against
attempts to remove Jega and insisted that the
elections must hold within the timeline allowed
by the law.
The APC senators, led by George Akume, told a
news conference in Abuja that they heard from a
reliable source that the Head of Service would
direct Jega to proceed on his pre-retirement
leave next week.
“We have received information from a very
credible source that next week, the INEC
Chairman will be given a letter from the Office of
the Head of the Civil Service to proceed on a
terminal leave,” they said.
The opposition senators alleged that the Federal
Government was trying to use a circular from the
HoS dated August 11, 2010 to place Jega on
compulsory pre-retirement leave.
They threatened to resist any attempt by the
presidency to either suspend or remove Jega
before the March 28 presidential election.
Some of the senators, who spoke with one of our
correspondents on the issue on Friday, said they
would employ legal and constitutional means to
ensure that Jega conducts the next general
elections.
Akume said President Goodluck Jonathan has
the right to remove Jega, but could not
unilaterally do so without seeking the permission
of the National Assembly through a two-third
majority.
He, however, said that Jonathan does not have
the legal powers to suspend the INEC boss under
whatever guise.
He said, “Section 157(1) clearly states that the
President can only remove Jega with the vote of
2/3 majority of all senators. Under whatever
guise whether suspension, retirement or
voluntary leave, he cannot be removed.
Akume said, “ Section 157 (1) of the 1999
Constitution (as amended), the President cannot
remove the INEC Chairman from office without
getting approval of the Upper Chamber.
“Section 157 (1) of the constitution reads: “…a
person holding any of the offices to which this
section applies may only be removed from that
office by the president acting on an address
supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate
praying that he be so removed for inability to
discharge the functions of the office.”
He said, “We will resist any attempt by the
presidency to sack jega for any sinister reasons.
We will continue to say no to impunity and any
attempt to undermine the credibility of the
forthcoming general elections. We would never
accept.
“We condemn what the Federal Government is
trying to do. We will rise up and defend our
democracy. This is the Road to Golgotha, the
road to Armageddon. These people want to
destroy this country completely and we will resist
it.
“We are waiting for the president to bring the
notice before the National Assembly and we will
decide on its legality or otherwise.”
Also Senator Ahmed Lawan, (APC Yobe North),
admitted that the President has the
constitutional powers to remove Jega if he so
wishes but that there is a procedure contained in
the constitution.
He said, “The National Assembly must pass a
resolution backed by two-third majority of
members either giving accent to the request or
not. That is the only way that the Chairman of
the INEC could be removed. The President
cannot do it alone.”
Senator Babafemi Ojudu, (APC Ekiti Central)
said, “The President cannot suspend Jega
because he has no such powers in the
constitution. There is no law which empowers
the President to suspend anyone who was legally
appointed to occupy a position for a period of
time.”
Ojudu said his colleagues were raising the alarm
because the information about the plot to sack
Jega was made available to them hence they
would not ignore it.
He said, “We have met, and we are still going to
meet over the issue. We are watching and
already considering all lawful and constitutional
options even pre-emptive strategies to make
sure that this democracy is not truncated
through Jega’s sack”
Addressing a press conference, the spokesman
for the Northern Elders Forum, Prof. Ango
Abdullahi, said that sacking Jega now would be a
recipe for disaster.
Abdullahi said, “With regards to Jega’s tenure,
any attempt at this last minute by this
government or its agency to remove the INEC
chairman is a clear message that the Presidency
is determined to rig the presidential election in
which its sees Jega as an impediment simply
because he thinks that the commission must
follow the rules for a free and fair and credible
election.”
While lamenting that the February elections were
postponed on “flimsy, clumsy and indefensible”
reasons, he said the electoral body had for
several months now been consistent and
emphatic on its readiness to organise and
conduct the 2015 elections in February.
He noted that the insecurity excuse given for the
postponement of the elections must “fail
because only a small fraction of the security
personnel in the country are directly engaged in
the fight against insurgency within the North-
Eastern enclave of the country.”
Abdullahi said, “Assuming that the soldiers are
needed, we need to know that of the about
180,000 soldiers in uniform only about 20,000 are
currently in the North-East of the country.”
Meanwhile, most national and resident electoral
commissioners have expressed their support for
Jega over his readiness to conduct the polls.
They asked him to reject alleged plan by the
Presidency to send him on terminal leave.
Saturday PUNCH reliably learnt that the
commissioners were disturbed that the removal
of Jega would erode the credibility of the polls.
One of the national commissioners, who spoke
with Saturday PUNCH on condition of anonymity,
said there was no way the results of the
elections would be fair, if the polls were not
conducted by the commission’s current
chairman.
He said, “The whole world is watching us.
Anyone who’s thinking about sacking Jega is not
working for the interest of the country.
“Yes, there are plans and attempts at dividing us,
but we need to remain resolute in this task. We
should not allow anyone to put the country into
shame.”
Asked if there was division among the ranks of
the officers, he said it was possible as witnessed
during the meetings on the postponement of the
elections.
Another national officer, who spoke on the issue
said, “We are all the same. There is no seniority
among us. We are all national officers.”
It was learnt that not many commissioners were
happy with the predicament of the chairman.
Investigations by Saturday PUNCH showed that
those in this category included commissioners
that supported the postponement of the
elections and some who were against the use of
card readers and permanent voter cards for the
elections.
Jega’s term ends on June 30, 2015 but the All
Progressives Congress on Thursday alleged that
the Federal Government planned to send him on
a three-month terminal leave starting from next
week.
The chairman, who spoke to The PUNCH through
his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kayode Idowu, had
on Thursday said he had yet to receive any letter
asking him to proceed on terminal leave.
Also, Idowu told one of our correspondents on
Friday that the electoral body was not prepared
to join any conversation on the chairman’s exit.
He said the commission is absolutely focused on
preparation for elections. “It is the last thing on
the mind of the chairman now,” he added.
An INEC commissioner, who confided in Saturday
PUNCH, identified, “the move to send the
chairman on leave as one of the reasons that
forced INEC to shift the elections to March 28
and April 11.”
Copyright PUNCH.

Ok we have heard
But that willnt stop me from thump print for jona

What is madness?

Madness is when you think voting for Buhari will automatically turn you to a Mark Zuckerberg

Madness is when you think voting for Buhari will automatically give you 24/7 hour electricity (Let there be light, and there was light)

Madness is when you think voting for Buhari will land you a job in Shell

Madness is when you think voting for Buhari will eradicate your personal & family problems.

Madness is when you think voting a Buhari will automatically land GOODLUCK & FAYOSE in Kirikiri, while TINUBU & AMAECHI moves freely from Lagos to Bayelsa, Abuja to Delta.

What is madness?

Madness is YOU, if you've ever assume any of the above will come to pass