AFTERMATH OF BOTCHED ELECTION: Jega under intense fire

. . .

[size=14pt]How Jega landed INEC job, with help of opposition[/size]

Vanguard discovered that on March 29, 2011, between 2320 and 0040 hrs, at the National Secretariat of the CPC on Akinkumi Street, Utako District, Abuja, a meeting was held by the leadership of the party. One of the leaders of the party had reported to the meeting which had eight people, including a female, in attendance that “Mr. President must be regretting now for appointing Jega as the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.”

Director General of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Sule Yahaya Hamma, who was in attendance at the meeting, along with Mustapha Salihu, Dep. National Chairman; Engr. Buba Galadinma, National Secretary; and Colonel Hamid Ali (rtd) Chief of Staff to General Buhari, among others, “revealed intimating Mallam Adamu Ciroma (of the Northern Political Leaders’ Forum, NPLF) that it was not Mr. President that nominated Jega for the INEC appointment.”

Vanguard learnt that this was done by their group, through a Nigerian female believed to be a sister to Mr. President, and the United States of America, USA, embassy in Nigeria, after which three short listed names were presented.

The names presented included those of Jega, Ibrahim Madaki and Bukhari Bello. “While explaining how Jega was appointed,”Vanguard learnt, “Hamma maintained that it was the USA embassy in Nigeria that was used to pressurize Mr. President to eventually ‘pick’ Jega.

“He reiterated that the government is presently regretting not appointing Bello instead at that point in time, to which he believed would also have been to the detriment of the government as in his view, Bello has a tougher disposition.”

Just before the high wire politicking and pressure that was brought to bear before Jega was finally announced as President Jonathan’s choice for the INEC job, Vanguard had exclusively gathered on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, that Bukhari Bello may get the job. However, upon serious pressure, his name was dropped.

At the CPC meeting of last Tuesday, Salihu reportedly “drew the attention of Galadinma to a remark he recalled was made by the IRI that the government of the USA is putting USA embassy in Nigeria under pressure to support Mr. President, wondering the sudden change on the position of the USA government on Buhari.

“He averred that the new thinking of the government of the USA on Buhari  may be informed by religious alliance between the government of the USA with Mr. President, or the fear that a Buhari presidency may not support the siphoning of Nigeria’s petroleum products by the Americans.”

But this was countered by Hamma, who was of “the notion that the USA government may not have changed its position on Buhari, and contended that they have maintained close communication with the USA government over the past eight years.”

. . .

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/04/aftermath-of-botched-election-jega-under-intense-fire/

The alarm bells and ominous signs are once again available for the discerning lovers of democracy to see the duress and undue influence that President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling PDP are exerting on the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega.

This is reminiscent of the same shameful approach that the late President Umaru Yar'adua adopted with the then Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti state, Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo, as we can all remember. In any civilized clime, a candidate or party that is participating in an election should naturally distance itself from the Electoral Commission; if only to avoid any appearance of undue influence and/or conflict of interest. This is why most, if not all, Electoral Commissions throughout the world are supposed to be independent of the various arms of government. Regrettably, this is not the case in Nigeria as our so called Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a track record of being independent more in the breach than in observance.

That the pattern of abuse by the executive arm and the ruling party on INEC can continue even in the middle of a critical period of general elections is mind boggling and totally unacceptable. In so doing, President Jonathan (like his recent predecessors) is laying the foundation for the forthcoming elections to be anything but free, fair and credible as Nigerians and the world at large would want it to be. We had hitherto believed that the National Assembly elections that had to be aborted and postponed in the middle of voting was because of non availability of critical materials as announced by Prof Jega. However we now have reasons to believe that covert as well as overt pressures are being exerted by President Goodluck Jonathan, the ruling PDP and their agents because of their vested interests in manipulating the outcome of the elections.

[b]If we had doubts about the widely circulated rumour that senior officers in the legal and operations departments of INEC deliberately engineered the delay/non availability of the critical materials as an act of sabotage to discredit Prof Jega, such surreptitious or covert moves now pale into relative insignificance in light of the emergency meeting of the National Security Council chaired by President Jonathan with Prof Jega and other senior officials of INEC after the postponed elections. According to today’s edition - Monday 4th of April of the Daily Trust newspaper, it was reported that the Vice President Namadi Sambo, National Security Adviser to the President, Ministers of Defense and Police Affairs along with other service chiefs were also present at the meeting where accusing fingers were repeatedly pointed at the INEC chairman for the problems that led to the postponement. The INEC chairman was further chastised for turning down the offer for the military to be involved in the election logistics and that: (1) the government should henceforth constitute a taskforce consisting of the military and INEC officials to take over all election logistics, (2) INEC should not combine the postponed National Assembly elections with that of the Presidential elections on the 9th of April as demanded by a majority of the opposition parties, (3) the Modified Open Secret Ballot system that INEC has adopted should be changed such that there should be no accreditation of all eligible voters prior to voting. The pressures were so strong that the INEC chairman succumbed and agreed not to combine the National Assembly elections with that of the Presidential elections as has since been publicly announced by INEC. He however refused to constitute a taskforce and change the accreditation procedure as demanded and offered to resign instead.[/b]

Naturally, we and most other Nigerians are disappointed by the postponement of the elections midstream but we strongly believe that Prof Jega made the right call to postpone the elections rather than continuing with flawed elections. So we see no reason for the President and National Security Council meeting in the first place. [size=15pt]We also understand that there will be more surreptitious moves in the days ahead to embark on a media campaign of calumny to force Professor Jega to resign so that one of the PDP friendly INEC commissioners can be appointed as acting chairman of INEC.
[/size]
The alarm bells and ominous signs to be deduced are as follows:

· Why should the National Security Council be meeting with INEC at this stage without other political parties being present?

· Why embark on duress and undue influence for the rules to be changed in the middle of the game?

· Why should the President and PDP’s preference for the National Assembly elections and the Presidential election not to be combined be imposed on all the other major parties?

· Why should the President and the ruling PDP be clamouring for the involvement of the military in the conduct of the elections?

· Will Prof Attahiru Jega eventually succumb just as Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo of Ekiti State, who initially resisted but later bowed to pressure from the ruling PDP?

For these and many more reasons we strongly urge President Jonathan and the ruling PDP to cease and desist from any further covert and overt interference in the way and manner in which the elections are conducted by INEC; not only in the interest of free, fair and credible elections that President Jonathan has promised Nigerians and the world at large but also in the interest of peace and stability of our country.

Lastly we demand a probe of the role of INEC Director of Operations, Mr. Nuru Yakubu in the event that led to the bungling of last Saturday elections just as we call on Prof Jega to clear the air on the rumour making the rounds that 2 set of result sheets with the same serial numbers were allegedly printed by the official printer of INEC.



Yinka Odumakin.
Spokesman for General Buhari.

^
So it is true?
See how Yinka Odumakin has gone into overdrive!

I really praise GEJ for appointing a man percieved to be incorruptible, not just that. but giving him a free hand to run INEC affairs as well. As always though, it seems that a provident wind blows ahead of GEJ, and what should have been the ultimate scam and a national embarrassment is turning out to be a national blessing instead.

All sorts of secrets are being revealed, from child voters in Katsina to contracts given to Jega's kinsmen fronting as foreign companies.

^^

where has you confidence gone? are you scared of losing? i thought only failed parties cry foul over rigging

the end is nigh my good man. YOUR. TIME. IS UP. i hope you'll be brave enough to show your face around here afterwards.

This is it!! Now they want to disown Jega? I mean he was listed as one of Goodluck Jonathan's many 'achievements', now this??

timbuk two:

^^

where has you confidence gone? are you scared of losing? i thought only failed parties cry foul over rigging

the end is nigh my good man. YOUR. TIME. IS UP. i hope you'll be brave enough to show your face around here afterwards.

Dude, every patriotic Nigerian wants free and fair elections. I find your your defence of rigging quite off putting and disgraceful.

If they like they can plant anybody there. But one thing that's certain is that the course of this Country to greatness will not be hindered ever again. Also, the final dose of the steady uninterrupted flow of electoral defeats that awaits Buhari and his cohorts shall surely come to pass.
Come April 16th 2011, irrespective of child voters registered in Buhari's home town, Nigerians shall make their choice and jubilate at the beginning of a new era of tremendous National development.

The names presented included those of Jega, Ibrahim Madaki and Bukhari Bello. “While explaining how Jega was appointed,”Vanguard learnt, “Hamma maintained that it was the USA embassy in Nigeria that was used to pressurize Mr. President to eventually ‘pick’ Jega.

Again?  

See, GEJ is always bowing down to foreign pressure, he has no balls and cannot stand up for Nigeria. Very very very scary. The man is unprepared for this job!

No balls, no sense. Very lazy minded man!

Please don't vote GEJ o my people, Odikwa risky seriously!  

Beaf:

Dude, every patriotic Nigerian wants free and fair elections. I find your your defence of rigging quite off putting and disgraceful.

awwwwwwwww, where's the famous beaf sense of humor?? i think i liked the old you better. i'll tell you what: let's pretend that johnny boy is going to win for a few more days and then you can go back to posting you smiling faces again.

but on a serious note these elections were NEVER going to be free and fair after the bastardisation of the Uwais report. I mean dude, can you imagine, the PDP is still responsible for appointing the Resident Electoral Commissioners   And you think GEJ is "game" for Free and Fair. Joker.

Another misleading subject headliner. Do these pro-GEJ never apply their thinking caps for a minute?

Let's even assume the OP with his utmost stupidity is correct along the subject headliner, how come CPC's logo was left out of most ballot papers?

CPC is surely going to make some people have serious high blood pressure on this forum. I only hope the stolen money GEJ is giving them is enough to pay for the medical expenses abroad.

Dont take Beaf seriously. lol

Nigeria needs to be liberated from the stranglehold of the largest organized crime ring in Africa, the PDP.

This is the same gang who claimed Jonathan has already given us free and fair election, long before the elections ooo. Now see them, trying to disown Jega when he is down!!

Pataki:

Another misleading subject headliner. Do these pro-GEJ never apply their thinking caps for a minute?

Let's even assume the OP with his utmost stupidity is correct along the subject headliner, how come CPC's logo was left out of most ballot papers?

CPC is surely going to make some people have serious high blood pressure on this forum. I only hope the stolen money GEJ is giving them is enough to pay for the medical expenses abroad.

Everyone knows how primitive your approach is, so much so that you only contribute abuse to every topic. No sense, no new angles, no logic, no morals; you don't argue, instead you shout. . . If we were to be in the streets, I easily imagine you would be throwing stones, rioting and slashing.

Dude, get refined.

Director General of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Sule Yahaya Hamma, who was in attendance at the meeting, along with Mustapha Salihu, Dep. National Chairman; Engr. Buba Galadinma, National Secretary; and Colonel Hamid Ali (rtd) Chief of Staff to General Buhari, among others, “revealed intimating Mallam Adamu Ciroma (of the Northern Political Leaders’ Forum, NPLF) that it was not Mr. President that nominated Jega for the INEC appointment.”

What is the exact nature of the relationship between Buhari's campaign and Ciroma's NPLF?
Why would the Director General of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Sule Yahaya Hamma have conversations with Ciroma about GEJ's choice of INEC boss?

Kilode?!:

Again?  

See, GEJ is always bowing down to foreign pressure, he has no balls and cannot stand up for Nigeria. Very very very scary. The man is unprepared for this job!

No balls, no sense. Very lazy minded man!

Please don't vote GEJ o my people, Odikwa risky seriously!  

i though u were pro-GEJ before

now u see why he should not get our votes

Alj Uche:

i though u were pro-GEJ before

now u see why he should not get our votes

He wasn't.

Lmao!

The US forced the Presidency to appoint an opposition's candidate as the chairman of Inec. .  . . and the President was too stúpid to sign off on his appointment even though he works for the opposition?

Seriously, who's dumber, the one that wrote the piece of trash or those who took it hook, line and sinker?, . . . . . me thinks the latter!

Any time before elections, paid half witted dolts with an access to a media space keep coming out in dozens with the most bizarre, unsubstantiated beer parlor rumors. . . .goes forth to show the extent of the rot in the Nigerian educational system. . . .the whole thing is now a case of "dem say he say". . . .more worrisome is the fact that people of this generation who are likely to be holding leadership reins in the near future, are too lazy or rather too dull to question what they believe.

Nigeria's problem is simply lack of brains!

I agree with the original poster.


JEGA WAS IMPLANTED BY CPC WITH HELP OF THE US GOVERNMENT.

THE US GOVERNMENT USED INCEPTION TO PLANT THE IDEA OF JEGA'S APPOINTMENT INTO JONATHAN'S BRAIN.

Beaf:

He wasn't.

ok

so beaf do you think what[b] our[/b] president did was stu.pid or do you have an explaination or excuss for such act

i any waiting for you answer

THE US GOVERNMENT USED INCEPTION TO PLANT THE IDEA OF JEGA'S APPOINTMENT INTO JONATHAN'S BRAIN.

lmao!!

Alj Uche:

i though u were pro-GEJ before

now u see why he should not get our votes

No, you cannot find any right thinking Nairalander like Kilode supporting GEJ. . . It is imposi-cant.

For beaf, I have an idea why he is supporting GEJ, for Seun I will rather , for now.

OAM4J:

No, you cannot find any right thinking Nairalander like Kilode supporting GEJ. . . It is imposi-cant.

For beaf, I have an idea why he is supporting GEJ, for Seun I will rather , for now.

good!

we should not give corruption a chance, i have a family member in GEJ carbinet but yet i still do not support jonathan,.,. if he wins i would benefit from it through corruption but i choose to do the opposite because at the end of the day, after jonathan leaves, what happens to the failed projects he promised

makes no sense to support if expect from greed

beaf family member or someone close to him if not him are part of jonathan carbinet and will benefit from it through corruption one way or the other.


that i know

jensinmi:

I agree with the original poster.


JEGA WAS IMPLANTED BY CPC WITH HELP OF THE US GOVERNMENT.

THE US GOVERNMENT USED INCEPTION TO PLANT THE IDEA OF JEGA'S APPOINTMENT INTO JONATHAN'S BRAIN.

Kobojunkie:

This is the same gang who claimed Jonathan has already given us free and fair election, long before the elections ooo. Now see them, trying to disown Jega when he is down!!

Thinking the same thing.

Alj Uche:

i though u were pro-GEJ before

now u see why he should not get our votes

Me? Pro GEJ? Never!!

I'll rather vote for my brother Beaf. WaaaaaaaaY Smarter than Jonathan.

Beaf is just making a dumbo out of himself LOL

Beaf:

Everyone knows how primitive your approach is, so much so that you only contribute abuse to every topic. No sense, no new angles, no logic, no morals; you don't argue, instead you shout. . . If we were to be in the streets, I easily imagine you would be throwing stones, rioting and slashing.

Dude, get refined.

Get real and say something more intellectually stimulating. Otherwise, learn to shut up.

You and I need not belong to the streets. I am way above hanging in the streets with you. Just because you are a Jonathan's agbero does not mean you paint everyone with the same brush OK?

I can only help but wonder how in the world, did you come up with this silly subject headliner, when the article you posted never alluded to CPC having a role in implanting JEGA as INEC chairman.

Am I missing something? Was this not Goodlucks decision in the first place? why the denial now

So now that it is percieved that Jega might be a failure, he was implanted by Buhari. What excuses wouldnt they come up with.

jensinmi:

I agree with the original poster.


JEGA WAS IMPLANTED BY CPC WITH HELP OF THE US GOVERNMENT.

THE US GOVERNMENT USED INCEPTION TO PLANT THE IDEA OF JEGA'S APPOINTMENT INTO JONATHAN'S BRAIN.

How stupid can some of you get? So GEJ now takes advise from CPC? I don't even know whether CPC has come into existence before Jega's appointment.

If CPC now tell GEJ what to do, do you think, he will soon tell his supporters to vote for Buhari instead of himself?
One thing is obvious, for the first time PDP is confronted with the reality of an INEC chairman who is not A card carring member of the party but a neutral guy.

PDP now has so many election rigging pals in the opposition camps and they are armed with all the tricks as to how its normally done in the past, so no rigger can rig out a former master colleague.
PDP are finding this two specific realities hard to handle.

What election trick will an amateur like suswan play against a grand master in Akume?
Before Ohakim knew anything about rigging, Udenwa, Ararume and Rochas were past masters. And so many other instances.

jensinmi:


THE US GOVERNMENT USED INCEPTION TO PLANT THE IDEA OF JEGA'S APPOINTMENT INTO JONATHAN'S BRAIN.

Kilode?!:

Me? Pro GEJ? Never!!

I'll rather vote for my brother Beaf. WaaaaaaaaY Smarter than Jonathan.

[size=15pt]ROTFLMAO!!![/size] This election has to be one the funniest I've seen in quite a while!  kai! my belle o!

Unfortunately, Beaf has shot himself in the leg again. The thread was to be anti-CPC, but again turning to Pro CPC. If you read the post written by Yinka Odumakin you would get the answers to all your allegations.

What I cannot reconcile is how GEJ proffesses to want to organize free and fair elections but thinks it best to reprimand the chairman of an 'independent' body, INEC. Does he think he is talking to the PDP chairman.

Despite PDP's best rigging machinery, their end has come May 16th 2011.

12 Years for the theives, one day for the Owner(s)

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

And to compound GEJ problems, he may add this:

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/editorial/opinion/32671.html