The attacks on Jega took a different turn following a specific and direct call for his removal from office by some Southern Nigerian elders, under the aegis of Southern Nigerian Peoples Assembly, SNPA. The group which is campaigning for the re election of President Goodluck Jonathan boasts of high calibre membership comprising of men who have the President’s ears, like former Federal Commissioner for Information and Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Clark; former governor of Anambra state, Chukwuemeka Ezeife; a member of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Femi Okunrounmu as well as a former Information Minister, Mr. Walter Ofonagoro amongst others.

•Fani Kayode: Accused Jega of holding a meeting with APC stalwarts in Dubai

While lending their support to the postponement of the polls, SNPA called specifically for the sack and arrest of Prof Jega whom it accused of directing the release of the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, to emirs, district heads and some unnamed top politicians in the North as part of the strategy to favour the APC candidate; a northerner, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. The group alleged that the directive of the INEC boss was the reason nearly a 100 per cent distribution of the PVCs had been achieved in the Northern part of the country, whereas only about 50 per cent was achieved at that time in the Southern part of Nigeria.

“We authoritatively gathered with unassailable and incontrovertible evidence that the INEC Chairman, who was away in Lagos for an official engagement, through one of his National Commissioners that represented him, met with select leaders of the Northern Elders Forum, led by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, on 20th August 2014, where strategies and modalities for enthroning a President of Northern extraction through vote rigging were discussed and agreed upon,” said Chief Femi Okurounmu.

The group also claimed that the 20th August meeting was sequel to an earlier one by Northern Elders Forum held on 16th August, 2014 at Arewa House, Kaduna, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule, where it was resolved that all avenues must be explored towards enthroning a President of Northern extraction in the forthcoming 2015 elections and alleged that the INEC boss ordered for the release of Parmanent Voter Cards in their catchment states to Emirs, District Heads and top politicians and not necessarily to the voters themselves, a situation they contended, culminated in some voters being in possession of two to three PVCs.

“This accounted for nearly 100 per cent PVC collection rate, especially in the North West states, as compared with less than 50 per cent collection rate in the Southern states. This is the reason that Lagos State, with a sophisticated population of over 5.2 million, has not distributed more than 2.5 million PVCs,” they added. They also expressed displeasure over the 150 units of laptops said to have been procured and distributed to INEC for each northern state by the Northern Elders Forum.

•Okupe: Accusd Jega of lying about INEC’s preparedness

Apart from Clark, SNPA and Fani – Kayode, Dr. Doyin Okupe, and the national publicity secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, have also accused Jega of acting the script of the APC and that he lacks the moral right to conduct the rescheduled polls. Okupe specifically accused Jega of lying about the state of the commission’s preparedness for the conduct of the election.

The Terminal Leave Plot

Tension was at its peak early last week across Nigeria following romours that the Presidency had concluded moves to remove Jega and replace him with a ‘more friendly and amenable’ hand to do its bidding and prevent the opposition from coasting home to victory.

The plot to remove Jega from office and forestall his supervising the conduct of the forthcoming general elections started like a joke but soon assumed a life of its own as his tenure, which expires 30th June, became a subject of intense speculation. Insinuations were high that Jega might be forced to proceed on a three-month terminal leave beginning 24th March, in line with the civil service procedure.

The Jega terminal leave song grew in crescendo and reverberated across different sections of the polity, driven by those who seek the return of Jonathan to the Presidential Villa after his current term expires on 29 May. The social media became awash with stories that Jega had been removed from office.

Even the repeated efforts of Jega’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kayode Idowu, to clear the air over the issue did not achieve the desired result as the story about his boss’ terminal leave matter refused to die. He stated that rather than proceed on a compulsory leave as is being rumored, Jega is focused on using the extension of the 2015 polls to perfect the commission’s strategies to conduct what would be seen as the best election in the nation’s history. He further noted that the appointment of the INEC chairman was not under the Nigerian Civil Service Rules and that even if his service would not be renewed by the Federal Government, Jega would serve out his tenure which he said, would elapse on June 30, 2015.

Similarly, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, denied any move for Jega to proceed on terminal leave and insisted that the INEC boss would conduct the polls rescheduled for 28 March and 11 April, 2015. He insisted that Jega is focused on the task of ensuring free, fair and credible elections, adding that the focus of the commission is to make the forthcoming elections better than that of 2011.

The APC members at the National Assembly in their reaction to Jega’s terminal leave song, had vowed to resist any plot to oust the INEC boss from office and condemned the alleged moves to force him out of office ahead of the 2015 election. They stated that President Jonathan does not have the constitutional powers to effect such a change at INEC. Drawing support from constitutional provisions, the Minority Leader at the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, pointed out that Jega is not considered as a civil servant subject to Nigeria’s civil service rules, and as such, he’s not expected to proceed on terminal leave ahead of a crucial election in Nigeria.

In his words: “There is a difference between a civil servant and a public servant or officer. INEC and its chairman are a creation of the constitution. Their operations and regulations are as provided under sections 156 and 160 of the constitution which specifically says only INEC has the powers to regulate its own procedures and cannot be subject to approval or control of the president or any other authority thereby establishing its independence. The question of who is a civil servant is answered in section 171 of the constitution and the chairman of INEC is not included.”

Similarly, Senator George Akume, last Thursday in Abuja stated that his party, the APC, had received credible information that the head of service would direct Jega to proceed on terminal leave next week. He condemned the attempt to remove Jega from office under any guise noting that his removal would be tantamount to subversion of the system.

“Only dishonest politicians fear Jega as chairman of INEC. 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,” said he. Gbajabiamaila argued that Jega is not a civil servant but a political appointee whose fate is governed by the constitution, and as a result not subject to civil service rules. “We condemn what the government wants to do. This is the road to Golgotha. I wonder why they want to destroy this country,” the senator stated.

•Gbajabiamila: Jega is not a civil servant subject to civil service rules

It is also surprising that despite the reassurance of Jonathan in his recent media chat, denying the rumoured plans to relieve Jega of his job, the speculations over his ouster has refused to die down. The President described insinuations that he intends to sack Jega or send him on terminal leave as laughable and expressed confidence that the INEC boss and his 12 national commissioners would do a good job with the 2015 elections. The President also stated that he had not told anybody that he wants to remove Jega.

Pundits posit that the ongoing controversies over Jega’s terminal leave may not be unconnected with the President’s statement during the live transmission of his media chat that he appointed Jega and the national commissioners, as well as resident electoral commissioners, in line with the constitution. He reasoned that if it becomes obvious that any of them is not good enough the person might be removed. Analysts claimed that despite the President’s denial of any plan to remove the INEC boss from office, his reference to constitutional provisions and terms of office of the electoral officials, including Jega, may have contributed to keeping the controversies alive.