The caucus of the All Progressives Congress senators in the National Assembly have said that information available to it suggests that the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, will by next week be directed to proceed on terminal leave.
Speaking on behalf of the caucus, Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, who sounded this alarm while addressing a press conference at the National Assembly complex in Abuja on Thursday, alleged that the Head of Service is now set to direct Jega to proceed on terminal leave next week.
The APC caucus condemned the attempt to remove Prof. Jega through the back door, warning that such removal would be tantamount to “subversion of the system”.
According to Akume, “We have received information that next week, Jega will be served a letter from the head of service, directing him to proceed on terminal leave. We wonder why the government wants to tamper with the current arrangement of INEC.
“Only dishonest politicians fear Jega as Chairman of INEC,” Akume added.
The APC senators asserted that the INEC Chairman is not a civil servant, but a political appointee whose fate is governed by the constitution, hence, is not subject to civil service rules.
While claiming that the government had succeeded in foisting shifting of the elections on Nigerians, they alleged that the same government now wants to get rid of Jega so as to install a “pliant and spineless” person who would do its bidding for sinister reasons.
Akume continued that, “We want elections that are credible. We oppose Jega’s removal by the back door. On a daily basis, Jega is being attacked. We condemn what the government wants to do.
“This is the road to Golgotha. I wonder why they want to destroy this country,” he stated.
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