As the rescheduled dates for the general elections slated for March 28 and April 11 approach, President Goodluck Jonathan has assured Nigerians and the international community that he has no intention of ousting Prof. Attahiru Jega from his current position as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The President’s reassurance came amid speculation that the federal government, through the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, has concluded plans to send Prof. Jega on a terminal leave before the elections.
Senators serving under the APC led by George Akume had last Thursday claimed they had reliable Intelligence that the INEC Chairman would be asked to proceed on pre-retirement leave this week through a letter to be issued by the office of the Head of Service of the Federation.
But Jonathan, who spoke in an interview with Aljazeera on Monday, debunked the speculation, stressing that INEC is a sensitive and important institution which can spark public outcry should its chairman be arbitrarily removed.
When asked pertaining to Jega’s continued stay in office, the President said, “Except somebody is insinuating that the Chairman has done something wrong. You cannot change an officer, except the person has done something wrong.”
He further explained that, “Government, whether at the federal or state level, president or governor, does not wake up and change somebody, especially somebody like the INEC Chairman, except that person has done something wrong.
“INEC is a very sensitive body. For me to change INEC Chairman, Nigerians will ask questions. So, you cannot wake up and change INEC Chairman.”
Jonathan ended by asserting that he had never discussed with “any human being on earth about changing INEC Chairman”.
The tenure of the present INEC Chairman ends in June but there are claims that the PDP-led administration plans to send him on a three-month pre-retirement leave before the conduct of the elections.
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