ABUJA—Pressure mounted,
weekend, on the presidency
not to compel Chairman of
the Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC,
Prof. Attahiru Jega to
proceed on pre-retirement
leave as reportedly being
canvassed by some
concerned stakeholders in the
polity.
The anti-Jega forces had
been pushing the presidency
to remove the chairman from
office, a move that was last
night described as dangerous
by notable lawyers. The
pressure came in the face of
heightened tension in the
commission over the alleged
moves. The chairman’s five-
year term comes to an end
on June 30 and though he is
qualified for re-appointment,
the chances of such have
become remote given recent
allegations of bias against the
chairman by campaign
officials of President
Goodluck Jonathan.
The mood at the
headquarters of INEC,
weekend, was that of
resignation to fate, as most of
the officials, adopted a ‘wait-
and-see’ disposition over
Jega’s fate following claims
of surreptitious moves to
force the chairman out of
office ahead of the first of the
national elections on March
28.
Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral
Commission, INEC, Prof.
Attahiru Jega
A top official of the
commission told Vanguard ,
yesterday that they were still
working with the hope that
the elections would hold as
rescheduled and that the
chairman would be allowed to
conduct it before going in
June.
The tension followed claims
by the All Progressives
Congress, APC, Senate
caucus of the discovery of a
plot by the presidency to
send Jega on pre-retirement
leave as a way of clearing the
way for the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, to
emerge victorious in the
forthcoming national
elections.
PDP officials had in recent
times kicked against the
insistence of the commission
to use the card reader and
the Permanent Voter Cards,
PVCs.
Among those who spoke
against the alleged move to
send Jega on pre-retirement
leave were Prof. Itse Sagay,
SAN, Mr Femi Falana, SAN,
Chief Olisa Agbokoba, SAN,
Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN
and Prince Orji Nwafor-Orizu.
Chief Fredrick Fasheun, who
is also a supporter of the
second term aspiration of the
president, also opposed any
premature exit of Jega.
Constitutional lawyer,
Professor Itse Sagay said that
any attempt to remove Jega
from office through what he
called “political retirement”
would set the country on fire.
In a telephone interview with
Vanguard , Sagay said the
INEC chairman cannot be
removed from office at this
time under the pretence of
retirement on two grounds.
He said: “The appointment of
Jega as INEC boss was
ratified by the Senate of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
and his removal under the
law must be ratified by two-
third majority of the Senate.”
Besides, he opined that the
appointment is political and
that he is as such “not a
typical civil servant who is
expected to proceed on leave
after spending 35 years in
service or attained the
mandatory retirement age. So
any attempt to force him out
of office through political
means is an attempt to set
the country on fire.”
Falana
Falana, on his part, said:
“Prof. Jega is on leave of
absence from the Bayero
University. He won’t be due
to retire until the age of 70.
That is when he would go on
terminal leave. He is on a
five-year renewable tenure.
His first term ends on June
30, 2015 and the appointment
enjoys constitutional flavour.
“It is not at the pleasure of
the president to remove him
or send him on a compulsory
leave. The president has to
seek and obtain the approval
of two-thirds majority of the
Senators pursuant to
Sections 157 of the
Constitution. Assuming but
not conceding that he has to
proceed on terminal leave,
that cannot happen before
April 2015.”
Ozekhome
“The chairman is not a career
civil servant. However, only
the President can sack him
with the consent of the
Senate. A similar thing was
done in the case of Lamido
Sanusi, who was suspended.
I do not believe that he
should proceed on terminal
leave like a core civil servant.
If he were to be dismissed,
the National Assembly needs
to be consented the same
way his appointment was
done.
“The Senate also has the
right to reject the removal.
The constitution involved the
Senate in that kind of issue to
prevent any arm of
government from being too
powerful. It is a constitutional
stipulation that ensures
balance of power. In
contemplating sending him
on terminal leave, the moral
and ethical angle should also
be considered. The elections
are around the corner. So any
attempt at removing him will
not augur well for our
democracy.”
Agbakoba
In his reaction, a former
President of the Nigerian Bar
Association, NBA, Chief Olisa
Agbakoba (SAN) said
removing the chairman of
INEC will not be good for
nation’s polity.
Speaking with Vanguard ,
yesterday, Agbakoba said: “I
know that it will be a big
mistake to remove Jega
unless he decides to resign. If
you remove, there is a
perception that there is
something wrong. Jega’s
tenure is almost ending,
wisdom suggests to me that
the best thing is to let him
conduct the elections. We
have to have confidence in
the way the electorate will
vote. The perception of
removing him (Jega) will not
be good for our polity.”
Nwafor-Orizu
Asserting that Jega cannot
be disciplined except under
extant laws, Nwafor- Orizu
an, Abuja based
constitutional lawyer said:
“No, the INEC chairman is not
a civil servant, and the
Constitution by Section 158 is
specific that INEC should not
be subject to the direction of
any other authority or
person.
“To understand the
constitutional meaning, one
needs to examine the opening
sentence of section 158
which is clear that
disciplinary control of INEC
cannot be directed by the
civil service rules or even the
president of Nigeria.”
Nwafor-Orizu further
contended that compelling
Jega to go on leave and he
refusing could cause a
constitutional jam as the
INEC chairman under the
constitution does not have a
supervisor to discipline him.
He should be allowed to
conduct polls —Fasheun
On his part, founder of the
Oodua Peoples Congress,
OPC, Dr Fredrick Fasheun
said the INEC chairman
should be allowed to conduct
the general elections.
Fasheun said: “Why does
anyone want to remove him?
It is not acceptable. He
should be allowed to conduct
the elections.”
The gloom in the commission
heightened at the weekend
following suspicions that the
Presidency had concluded
moves to remove the
Chairman of the electoral
body, Prof Attahiru Jega, and
replace him with a ‘more
friendly and amenable’ hand
to do its bidding to prevent
the opposition from coasting
home with victory.
Although President Jonathan
had initially denied the claim
that he was shopping for
Jega’s successor, hordes of
his foot soldiers have insisted
that the professor of political
science must be replaced for
insisting on using card
readers and permanent voter
cards for the polls, a
development, they claim,
would likely disenfranchise
their supporters.
To prove their opposition to
Jega’s stance on the use of
PVCs and card readers for
the polls, many pro-Jonathan
groups and friends have filed
suits asking the courts to
disallow the use of the
facilities.
The groups had waited
patiently for the
postponement of the
elections last month, to
challenge Jega and INEC.
While Nigerians had taken
Jonathan by his words that
he was not planning to force
Jega to proceed on pre-
retirement leave, opposition
Senators raised the alarm last
week, alleging that they had
credible information that the
Presidency had concluded
plans to remove the INEC
boss to pave the way for the
enthronement of a crony to
its bidding.
According to the Senators,
the pre-terminal leave letter
would come from either the
office of the Head of Service
of the Federation, OHSoF or
that of the Secretary to the
Government of the
Federation, OSGF.
We dont’t have Jega’s sack
letter — OHSoF
But findings by Vanguard
revealed that the OHSoF was
not in possession of the said
letter as at the close of work
last Friday.
When Vanguard inquired
about the said letter, senior
officers in the OHSoF denied
knowledge of the said
document, claiming that it
was news to them, as the
INEC boss was not reporting
to that office.
One of the sources in the
OHSoF described the link
between Jega’s alleged pre-
terminal leave letter to the
OHSoF as shocking since
according to them, “the
distinguished senators are
supposed to know that the
office does not deal with
political appointees like Jega
but with core civil servants”.
Meanwhile, the mood at the
Headquarters of the INEC,
was that of resignation to
fate, as most of the officials,
adopted a ‘wait-and-see’
disposition over Jega’s fate
following the APC Senators’
allegation and mounting
attacks on him by supporters
of the President.
source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/tension-mounts-on-presidency-over-jega/#sthash.WXlrbnQz.dpuf

Jega has to leave, wif him free and fair election is not guaranteed!

As long as Jega continues to have secrete meetings with APC hierarchy, he has to go.

GEJ would eventually appoint another person of probity into that position.

OREMUSSANCTUS:
Jega has to leave, wif him free and fair election is not guaranteed!

People talk about what will happen if Jega is sacked. , nobody talks about what will happen when the deadly consequences of his actions start to manifest after elections. If this guy is allowed to rig this election in favour of his brother, do you think jonathans supporters will roll over and accept such injustice in the name of peace? Jegas machinations will be more catastrophic for this country if he is allowed to go on. Sack him now and manage the grunts from APC, that's far better than counting body bags after the eelections.

He who hire can also fire nah . GEJ till 2019!!!

temitemi1:
He who hire can also fire nah . GEJ till 2019!!!

SAI BABA GEJ

OREMUSSANCTUS:
Jega has to leave, wif him free and fair election is not guaranteed!

with jega,gej is finish,no two ways about gej going back to otuoke,because jega can never be remove and no rigging.

Jega will NOT be removed. Card readers will be used and whoever wins, wins.

Nobody can claim rigging with card readers and we all know who has been found buying cards. Question is why buy another voter's card?