“Once Prof. Jega is removed,
Mr. President will nominate a
new chairman who will
declare that INEC is not ready
to use PVCs. And once PVCs
are r
emoved, it will become
easier to carry out major
rigging,” an INEC source said.
SaharaReporters has learned
that hawkish members of
President Goodluck Jonathan’s
inner circle have convinced
him to move in an aggressive
and decisive manner to remove
Attahiru Jega as the chairman
of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC)
this week.
Sources within INEC as well as
the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) disclosed that,
barring a last-minute change of
heart, President Jonathan will
go ahead this week to force Mr.
Jega to embark on a terminal
leave prior to the end of his
year in the middle of 2015.
Our sources said the decision to
remove Mr. Jega would open
the door to appoint a new
chairman, a national
commisoner of INEC, Amina
Bala Zakari, who would be open
to jettisoning the use of
permanent voters cards and
other anti-rigging technologies.
“Once Prof. Jega is removed,
Mr. President will nominate a
new chairman who will declare
that INEC is not ready to use
PVCs. And once PVCs are
removed, it will become easier
to carry out major rigging,” an
INEC source said.
He added that the Presidency
had been able to use its
massive slush funds, sourced
from deals in the oil and
energy sectors, to compromise
a majority of INEC officials in
the states. Over the last four
years, Petroleum Minister
Diezani Alison-Madueke has
been stashing away funds that
President Jonathan is now using
to bribe electoral officials,
traditional rulers, and even
some members of the civil
society groups. One PDP insider
told SaharaReporters that Mr.
Jonathan had distributed more
than $200 million to different
groups since INEC postponed
elections two weeks ago.
Several sources said the
removal of Mr. Jega is a major
part of a strategy developed by
President Jonathan’s team to
ensure that they win the
presidential and other elections
by hook or crook. The
presidential election is now
scheduled for March 28 while
governorship and legislative
polls will hold on April 11.
Two weeks ago, facing a
groundswell of opposition and
in the face of rising
unpopularity, the PDP and Mr.
Jonathan used a series of
maneuvers to compel INEC to
postpone elections for six
weeks. SaharaReporters had
detailed plans by Mr. Jonathan
and his team to postpone
elections in order to slow the
momentum of the All
Progressives Congress and its
presidential candidate,
Muhammadu Buhari.
The Presidency knew that the
APC and its presidential
candidate were short on
campaign funds, said our
sources. In forcing the
postponement, Mr. Jonathan
and his inner circle achieved a
temporary crippling of the
main opposition party’s ability
to continue to run political
campaigns and to sustain its
electoral lead over the ruling
party.
An APC top official told
SaharaReporters that the party
was truly short of funds. “The
president and his people have
been putting aside public funds
for a long time. They are now
sharing the money around the
country, but Nigerians are not
fools. When the elections come,
people will remember that all
that money was stolen from
them,” he said.
Prior to the postponement,
some PDP officials had confided
in SaharaReporters that their
party and Mr. Jonathan were
on the ropes and faced certain
defeat. But following the
postponement, some of the
same officials now wax
confidence, asserting that Mr.
Jonathan and their party would
comfortably win the elections.
A PDP official told
SaharaReporters that Mr.
Jega’s removal was a done deal.
According to him, the hawks
around Mr. Jonathan, including
Ms. Alison-Madueke, Governor
Olusegun Mimiko, Vice
President Namadi Sambo, and
presidential aides Doyin Okupe
and Femi Fani-Kayode, believe
that the PDP and Mr. Jonathan
can weather the storm of any
fallout from the firing of the
INEC chairman. “They believe
the APC, the world press, the
US and EU will make noise, but
then everybody will eventually
calm down,” said the source. He
added that the same situation
played out when President
Jonathan removed Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi as the Governor
of the Central Bank.
Our sources said Mr. Jega’s
refusal to be compromised in
the conduct of this year’s
elections had spelt his doom.
“Many RECs (resident electoral
commissioners) are in the
party’s [PDP’s] pocket, but
Professor Jega has refused
even to pick up the phone calls
of those representing the
president. That’s why the
decision has been reached to
push him out of the way,” one
INEC source said. He added
that Mr. Jega knew that the
eyes of the world were on him,
and had decided to run
elections that are
acknowledged as credible.
Our sources added that, before
and after Mr. Jega’s removal,
the PDP plans to launch a
major campaign to depict him
as incompetent, corrupt, and a
servant of the APC. “His
successor will come out and say
that INEC’s preparations for
the elections are in a state of
mess and that further delay is
needed to make proper
preparations,” he added.
Source:- Sahara Reporters
Mr. President will nominate a
new chairman who will
declare that INEC is not ready
to use PVCs. And once PVCs
are r
emoved, it will become
easier to carry out major
rigging,” an INEC source said.
SaharaReporters has learned
that hawkish members of
President Goodluck Jonathan’s
inner circle have convinced
him to move in an aggressive
and decisive manner to remove
Attahiru Jega as the chairman
of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC)
this week.
Sources within INEC as well as
the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) disclosed that,
barring a last-minute change of
heart, President Jonathan will
go ahead this week to force Mr.
Jega to embark on a terminal
leave prior to the end of his
year in the middle of 2015.
Our sources said the decision to
remove Mr. Jega would open
the door to appoint a new
chairman, a national
commisoner of INEC, Amina
Bala Zakari, who would be open
to jettisoning the use of
permanent voters cards and
other anti-rigging technologies.
“Once Prof. Jega is removed,
Mr. President will nominate a
new chairman who will declare
that INEC is not ready to use
PVCs. And once PVCs are
removed, it will become easier
to carry out major rigging,” an
INEC source said.
He added that the Presidency
had been able to use its
massive slush funds, sourced
from deals in the oil and
energy sectors, to compromise
a majority of INEC officials in
the states. Over the last four
years, Petroleum Minister
Diezani Alison-Madueke has
been stashing away funds that
President Jonathan is now using
to bribe electoral officials,
traditional rulers, and even
some members of the civil
society groups. One PDP insider
told SaharaReporters that Mr.
Jonathan had distributed more
than $200 million to different
groups since INEC postponed
elections two weeks ago.
Several sources said the
removal of Mr. Jega is a major
part of a strategy developed by
President Jonathan’s team to
ensure that they win the
presidential and other elections
by hook or crook. The
presidential election is now
scheduled for March 28 while
governorship and legislative
polls will hold on April 11.
Two weeks ago, facing a
groundswell of opposition and
in the face of rising
unpopularity, the PDP and Mr.
Jonathan used a series of
maneuvers to compel INEC to
postpone elections for six
weeks. SaharaReporters had
detailed plans by Mr. Jonathan
and his team to postpone
elections in order to slow the
momentum of the All
Progressives Congress and its
presidential candidate,
Muhammadu Buhari.
The Presidency knew that the
APC and its presidential
candidate were short on
campaign funds, said our
sources. In forcing the
postponement, Mr. Jonathan
and his inner circle achieved a
temporary crippling of the
main opposition party’s ability
to continue to run political
campaigns and to sustain its
electoral lead over the ruling
party.
An APC top official told
SaharaReporters that the party
was truly short of funds. “The
president and his people have
been putting aside public funds
for a long time. They are now
sharing the money around the
country, but Nigerians are not
fools. When the elections come,
people will remember that all
that money was stolen from
them,” he said.
Prior to the postponement,
some PDP officials had confided
in SaharaReporters that their
party and Mr. Jonathan were
on the ropes and faced certain
defeat. But following the
postponement, some of the
same officials now wax
confidence, asserting that Mr.
Jonathan and their party would
comfortably win the elections.
A PDP official told
SaharaReporters that Mr.
Jega’s removal was a done deal.
According to him, the hawks
around Mr. Jonathan, including
Ms. Alison-Madueke, Governor
Olusegun Mimiko, Vice
President Namadi Sambo, and
presidential aides Doyin Okupe
and Femi Fani-Kayode, believe
that the PDP and Mr. Jonathan
can weather the storm of any
fallout from the firing of the
INEC chairman. “They believe
the APC, the world press, the
US and EU will make noise, but
then everybody will eventually
calm down,” said the source. He
added that the same situation
played out when President
Jonathan removed Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi as the Governor
of the Central Bank.
Our sources said Mr. Jega’s
refusal to be compromised in
the conduct of this year’s
elections had spelt his doom.
“Many RECs (resident electoral
commissioners) are in the
party’s [PDP’s] pocket, but
Professor Jega has refused
even to pick up the phone calls
of those representing the
president. That’s why the
decision has been reached to
push him out of the way,” one
INEC source said. He added
that Mr. Jega knew that the
eyes of the world were on him,
and had decided to run
elections that are
acknowledged as credible.
Our sources added that, before
and after Mr. Jega’s removal,
the PDP plans to launch a
major campaign to depict him
as incompetent, corrupt, and a
servant of the APC. “His
successor will come out and say
that INEC’s preparations for
the elections are in a state of
mess and that further delay is
needed to make proper
preparations,” he added.
Source:- Sahara Reporters
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