President Goodluck Jonathan says he has not told anybody that he will remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Attahiru Jega.
Jonathan said this in Abuja last night during the
presidential media chat.
Asked whether he has confidence in Jega despite
the accusations against him by the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP), Jonathan said if he feels
Jega is not good, for obvious reasons, he could
use his constitutional power to remove him.
“If you ask Jega, he would tell you. I appointed all
the commissioners and resident electoral
commissioners in INEC. They are my appointees.
So, if I feel that Jega is not good enough for
obvious reasons, then I can by that provision of
the constitution, that gives the person who
appointed him the power, to remove him. But I
have not told anybody that I am going to remove
Jega”.
The president said some people were using the
opportunity of the election rescheduling to create
confusion and misinform Nigerians.
“One thing about politics or leadership generally is
that when you’re a leader, you’ve your members
who support you, but what they do or
say...maybe somebody has been making
statements to advance your cause, the
assumption is that the person is close to you and
he is your fan. There are too many messages
that go out and sometimes I call people. More
than 80 percent of people sponsoring these
messages I don’t even know. So, whatever that
person says is different from Jonathan.
Elections will hold
President Jonathan also assured Nigerians that
elections would be conducted and a new
government inaugurated on May 29.
He described as incredible, stories that elections
would not be conducted.
“Elections must be conducted and a government
inaugurated on May 29. Let’s not be perturbed by
stories that are not real.
“These stories belong to the garbage. The stories
are not credible. Let me reassure Nigerians that
we will conduct elections.
“It is better for INEC to conduct elections that will
be free and fair. It is only proper that Nigerians
are given the opportunity to vote.
“I want a situation where every [eligible] Nigerian
will vote. Even if they cannot distribute PVC 100
percent, let the percentage improve”, he said.
Service chiefs didn’t consult me on poll shift
Jonathan also claimed that the service chiefs did
not consult him on the need for the elections’
postponement.
He was responding to a question on whether he
believed the elections were shifted for the reasons
the INEC gave.
“People are not being fair to me...In a number of
cases in Africa; we’ve had cases where
governments reschedule elections to extend
tenure.
“This is not the case in Nigeria. In Nigeria, the
law is very clear about when elections should be
conducted, not less than 30 days to the
inauguration of the new government and not more
than 150 days before the inauguration of the new
government.
“But within that period, if there are issues that
could require the electoral body to adjust the
date...INEC works with security services because
they must provide protection for the election
materials and staff and for the country.
The security services did not consult me. “Of
course I was not consulted and I did not want to
be consulted. In 2011, INEC didn’t consult me
(before shifting the election). If they had
consulted me, I wouldn’t have wasted my time
and government resources. For any trip I make, I
know what the government spends”.
Insurgency not only reason for poll shift
The president also noted that it was not the Boko
Haram insurgency alone that led to the shift of
the polls. He said the tense atmosphere
witnessed during the electioneering campaign
period was another factor.
On why the government hopes to contain the
Boko Haram insurgency within six weeks having
failed to do so in six years, Jonathan said: “I’m
not the Chief of Defence Staff, but I’m the chief
security officer of the federation. There are two
things to it. The recent Council of State meeting
emphasised this issue of security...There are two
things to the security. Yes, the Boko Haram is
there; but also the tensed factor in the country.
When INEC came up with the dates for elections,
there was so much threat and the security
agencies saw a lot of red points and they believed
elections should be shifted, otherwise the whole
country would go into flames.
“And when the issue of PVC was also being
branded as a problem, INEC said it was ready...in
Lagos, only about 38 percent of eligible voters
have PVCs...
“We’ve found it difficult to really contain Boko
Haram the way we ought to have done because
we could not get the platform and the equipment
we needed for the army and the navy.
“Luckily, we’ve got a substantial quantity of this
for now. I’ve had several meetings with the
president of Chad for example who was willing to
send troops, but before he does that the United
Nations must key-in so that whatever he is doing
has legal backing.
“The issue of security is beyond Boko Haram
because within this campaign period, there were
some instigations which I believe some
politicians used some young people to act the
way they are not expected to act...we’ve seen
some very dangerous signals and no security
chiefs will take it lightly.
You would agree with me that the aspect of the
attempt to pelt the presidential convoy by young,
ignorant people, because I saw them myself, is
treasonable offence...”
On war threats by kinsmen
On whether he was not worried by the threat of
war by his kinsmen if he is not re-elected,
Jonathan said his government would make sure
that things are done “in such a way that nobody
goes to war. We will not encourage anybody to
destroy this country. We must protect this
country. And those who support us must not
destroy this country”.
The president also stated that he would concede
defeat if he loses the March 28 presidential
election, noting that a lot of other African sitting
presidents had lost elections.
“If in 2011, I said that I would conduct free and
fair elections and if I lose, I’d happily go home
and it should be recorded. And as at that time,
no African sitting presidents has lost election. But
within this period, a lot of African sitting
presidents have lost election. But I said I want to
create the history to be the first African president
to lose election but let the world know that the
elections are free and fair.
Chibok girls story will change in weeks
On the fate of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls
abducted by the Boko Haram sect last April, the
president said there were renewed efforts to
rescue them.
He said some people were playing politics with
the case of the schoolgirls’ abduction instead of
supporting his administration’s efforts towards
freeing the captives.
“I believe now that we are working with Chad,
working with Cameroon. I believe in the next few
weeks, the story of the chibok girls will change.
It’s going to get better. I believe we should be
able to rescue some of them.
“But I don’t want to be quoted, I don’t want you
to say the president said that in two weeks’ time
or in four weeks’ time. I cannot say that because
the disappearance of those girls has taken quite
some time. But we’ve mapped out strategies,
we’re working with our neighbours and we’ll comb all the areas. So, just give us some time.

GEJ till 2019!!!

Fully noted