The head of the Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, Gani Adams,
has called for the immediate sack of the Chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru
Jega.
Mr. Adams, an ally of President Goodluck Jonathan, stated
this while speaking in Lagos on Sunday.
Among the reasons for his call, Mr. Adams said Mr. Jega
has failed to explain how INEC was able to successfully
distribute 90 per cent of Permanent Voters Card, PVC, in
North East despite the insurgency in the region.
“I Otunba Gani Adams is using this forum to call for
immediate sack, removal or retirement of Professor
Attahiru Jega, the chairman of INEC on the basis of PVC
distribution, introduction of card reader and creation of
30000 bogus and fraudulent polling units in the northern
part of Nigeria against the southern part,” the head of the
Yoruba socio-cultural group said while speaking on his
organisation’s Eledumare Festival.
Mr. Adams also voiced his opposition to the use of card
readers for the general elections, saying, “We have not
heard how card readers contributed or added value to any
major election in the world.
“To me, it’s an attempt cleverly being injected by Jega to
cause delay, confuse voters and prevent majority of voters
in exercising their franchise on that day”.
The electoral agency had explained that the decision to use
card readers was to limit electoral fraud by ensuring that
only true owners of legitimate cards could use them to
vote. The opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, which
supports the use of the readers, has repeatedly alleged that
the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its
supporters, do not want the readers used so as to
perpetuate electoral fraud; a claim the ruling party denies.
Despite INEC announcing it had dropped the plan to create
additional polling units after the announcement last year
created divides along ethno-religious lines, Mr. Adams
accused the electoral agency boss of proceeding with the
plan.
“In his ingenious but highly fraudulent stride at rigging the
election, Professor Jega has gone through the back door at
creating an additional 30,000 polling units not known to law
and designated as voting centres to deceive people having
been heavily criticised by distinguished and eminent
Nigerians,” he said.
The OPC leader said the various actions of the INEC chair
would have earned him an immediate removal and sack in
other climes
While calling for Mr. Jega’s sack, Mr. Adams urged the
federal government to begin the search for a new INEC
chair.
“The new chair can come from anywhere. He can come
from the north or south. I’m not choosing for the President,
but Jega should go” he said.
Mr. Adam’s call is part of a barrage of similar ones by
some people, mainly supporters of President Goodluck
Jonathan. Last week, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose,
also a major ally of the president, supported the sack.
“President Goodluck Jonathan can sack Jega if he wishes
and if he does, heavens will not fall,” Mr. Fayose said in
apparent response to the local and international
condemnations that have trailed the rumoured plan to
remove the electoral chief.
President Jonathan has, however, said he has no plans to
remove Mr. Jega.
While speaking on Sunday, Mr. Adams, who is also the
coordinator of Olokun Festival Foundation, asked Yorubas
to participate in the Eledumare Festival which began on
Saturday.
“This year’s celebration is not going to be devoid of the
usual glamour and atmosphere of praise and worship for
God, the Alpha and Omega of our faith. We also want to
use this festival to appraise the society and contribute to
the growth of our nation; spiritual, political and economic”.
The festival, a 21 days event, will end on March 26. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL AND TOUCHING NIGERIAN CELEBRITIES BIOGRAPHY AND SCANDALS
He is looking for chop money
ReplyDelete