9th February,
2015
PRESS
RELEASE: LEAVE JEGA ALONE
The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday postponed the 2015 general elections
till March 28, 2015. This was sequel to the outrageous submission of Nigeria’s
military service chiefs that they could not guarantee the safety of INEC staff
if the election starts on February 14 as earlier scheduled.
The Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC) has earlier questioned the rationale for the postponement. We wonder why the military would deliberately pick February 14, the day
general elections was expected to start, as the very day they want to commence
operations against insurgents in North Eastern Nigeria.
This is an insurgency that
started four years ago. What magic do they want to perform in six weeks when in
four years they could not suppress the insurgents? Do they have a foolproof
plan to rescue Chibok girls who were abducted three hundred and one days (301)
ago? Why did our military pick February 14 of all dates? We assert clearly and
unequivocally that there is more to the military’s choice of February 14 for
the commencement of its offensive than meets the eye.
Today there is palpable
fear in the country that President Jonathan’s next move would be the removal of
Professor Attahiru Jega, the respected Chairman of INEC. Political analysts
have raised this fear and Nigerians are not only deeply concerned but highly agitated.
MURIC cautions the
Presidency against such a move. If Jega is removed before the elections, it
will confirm the suspicion that this regime is not keen on holding a free and
fair election.
The press is already agog with the story that President
Jonathan is shopping around for a pliant INEC chairman. This is not the best
thing for Mr. President to do at this material time. Nigerians will not have
confidence in a man appointed few weeks to the elections. It had better not be.
INEC is supposed to be
independent and that is implied in its nomenclature. Replacing Jega with
another person who is ready to compromise will be the last nail in the coffin
of this regime’s credibility. It will be so transparent that the whole world
will see that President Jonathan’s wish is to turn Nigeria into a banana
republic.
MURIC affirms that the credibility
of any other person as chairman of INEC apart from Jega will be questionable.
The thought of replacement
also raises more questions than answers. When will such a person get to understand
the system? Will he be able to operate on the same wave length as Jega? Will he
gain the confidence of INEC commissioners? How soon can he acclimatize? Such a
replacement can only bring confusion.
Pundits have opined that
President Jonathan is eyeing the vice chancellor of one of the universities. Of
course we know that a serving vice chancellor is a government appointee whose
loyalty to his employer must be 150%. It will be easy for the Federal
Government to influence such a man.
Nonetheless, we advise Mr.
President to drop the idea. Nigerians repose full confidence in Jega. He has
taken them through several elections without blemish. They will trust him
again. Any new chairman is either a parasite on INEC’s tree of
success, Mr. President’s bootlicker or a court jester whose value starts and
ends in Aso Rock.
We therefore strongly
advise Mr. President to allow Jega to finish what he started. He is doing well.
He is a good umpire. Those who nurse the fear of a North-Jega connivance are
not being sincere. Afterall he supervised the election won by Mr. President in
2011 and the president’s main contender at the time is the same Northerner and
main opposition candidate today.
President Jonathan should
let sleeping dogs lie. Jega has pedigree. As the former president of the
Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), Jega epitomizes Nigeria’s
center of excellence. This has been proved several times as professors have served
INEC as returning officers. Thus Nigerians have had no cause to doubt the
results of elections apart from Ekitigate.
We believe that university
professors were encouraged to serve during elections because of the confidence
they have in the system under the leadership of their ex-president. These are highly
principled academia, men and women of timber and caliber. They are people who
cannot be easily cowed by politicians. They have weathered several storms and
emerged stronger.
Any interference with the workings
of INEC at this stage will have dire consequences for future elections as
principled academia and people of integrity may shun officiating in future
exercises.
MURIC solidarises with
INEC Chairman. We charge Jega to remain resolute and undaunted. He must not
allow intimidation to push him towards resignation. Jega must not resign. He has become the symbol
of the resistance of that dictatorial propensity which has manifested lately in
the Nigerian leadership. He should not let Nigerians down by resigning.
Finally, we send a strong
message to members of ASUU: no professor of real substance should serve in any
election organized under any other chairman if Jega is removed. Such an
election can only be a kangaroo election and it will smear the image of the
academia. We warn that the removal of Jega will rob the elections of any
credibility, cause disillusion among the electorate and turn this country into
a laughing stock in the comity of nations.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC)
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