INEC - Partisan nominees will be dropped, says President
Jonathan
By Sufuyan Ojeifo
President
Goodluck Jonathan has said he will withdraw any of those nominated for
appointment into the Independent National Electoral Commis-sion (INEC) who have
links with political parties or have played key roles in the parties.
Jonathan gave the pledge yesterday while addressing the 51st National Executive
Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at its Wadata Plaza
headquarters in Abuja.
The President had nominated university don, Prof. Attahiru Jega, for INEC
chairmanship, along with ten new national commissioners and 37 resident
electoral commissioners but there were complaints during the week especially by
the opposition Action Congress (AC) and some rights groups that four of the
nominees sent to the Senate by President Jonathan for ratification are members
of PDP.
The nominees are due to be screened by the Senate when it returns from its break
next Tuesday.
INEC nominees alleged to be card-carrying members of PDP are
Ambassador Z. Anka, Major-General Bagudu Mamman (rtd), Alhaji Yakubu
Shehu and Mr. Eddy Nwatalari.
And yesterday, Prof. Lai Olurode's nomination was also faulted as he
was alleged to be partisan and pro-AC.
Jonathan said although he had presented the list of 11 nominees to the
Senate, he had ample time to withdraw those that have been active in
some political parties before the screening by the Upper House.
He pointed out that even after screening and confirmation by the
Senate, he could still go back to the house for a review if serious
complaints in respect of any of the confirmed members of the
commission.
In an extempore presentation, he said: "Let me also use the
opportunity to brief our party members on the composition of INEC; of
course you have read in the newspapers that we have sent the list of
INEC nominees to the Senate.
"We presented the list of INEC commissioners that will replace the
ones that their tenures have expired during the last Council of States
meeting and I believe that immediately the Senate sits that will be
the first document they will look at.
"But I did mention to members of the Council of States the day I made
the presentation to them that from that day till when the list will be
screened, if I hear any complaint about a particular person, we are
going to withdraw that person.
"Immediately the Senate screens it (the list of nominees), I will no
longer have powers to withdraw except there are major challenges, then
I will go back to the Senate and say that there are so many complaints
about Mr. A or Mrs. B. and we need to withdraw.
"I will need to consult them when it gets to that point. But until the
screening, I have the full powers to withdraw somebody that people
raise issues against."
He referred members of the NEC to media publications on the issue,
stressing that those who complained about some people came with clear
evidence that some nominees are clear members of political parties.
Jonathan, however, clarified that the extant 1999 Constitution does
not disqualify any member of a political party from being a member of
INEC, stressing that it is in fact part of the qualifications.
He said because of the commitment of his administration to free and
fair elections, he had decided that every member of the electoral body
should be above board.
"The constitution does not say that if you are a member of a political
party, you should not be in INEC. No, that is very clear. You can be a
member of a political party; we can decide to make acting Chairman the
chairman of INEC if we choose to do so, if we believe that he can
conduct elections free and fair.
"I am not saying that he is going to rig election for PDP. In fact,
the law emphasizes that to be in INEC you must qualify to contest
election into the House of Representatives. For you to contest
election into the House of Representatives, you must be a member of a
political party. So if you follow the law to the letter you can
appoint people in political parties to be in INEC," he stated.
But he said that his government felt that active members of political
parties would be biased.
According to him, "Active members of political parties, we feel
wrongly or rightly, will be biased. If today I make the acting
Chairman as the INEC Chairman, they will say PDP has taken over the
place.
"But for that reason, I promise Nigerians and the whole world that
come 2011, we are going to conduct free and fair elections; for that
reason, anybody that will be in INEC should be somebody that should be
above board and people should have confidence in him because
perception is one thing and reality is another.
"If they perceive that he will do the wrong thing, even if he does the
right thing, and somebody fails election, they will believe that he
was manipulated out; and, for that reason, those people that are or
have been linked to have played key roles in political parties, I am
withdrawing them."
Jonathan also restated his promise of good governance, pointing that
having come into office in a peculiar circumstance he would ensure
that his administration does its best to ensure that things are
properly done.
He said his administration had quickly moved to address the nation's
procurement method which, according to him, was an area of much
complaint.
According to him, "For me, one area that people complain so much is
our procurement method; and for that reason, we are reviewing our
method of procurement so that if along the line somebody over-inflates
contract even after the contract has been awarded we can still look
into it.
"The idea is to make sure that we correct it and Nigerians have value
for money spent. If we spent one naira we should get value for one
naira. Not when we spent three naira and get value for one naira. We
are totally committed and we are going to sanitize the system to make
sure that these things are controlled."
He said that he had been holding meetings with governors of the nine
oil-producing states, pointing out that they were all on the same page
on the issue of amnesty for repentant militants.
He said: "We are working together; we are looking at the structures
and myself and the governors are meeting monthly to review the success
of the amnesty."
Jonathan also promised to confront frontally the problem of
kidnapping, which he said had assumed a worrisome dimension.
He had some words for his party members also, saying there was need to
ensure internal democracy in the party.
"I want to plead with the party that especially as the elections are
coming, one of the areas we normally have problems is the issue of
internal democracy.
"This time round, as a party and as a nation, we have to do things in
a way that will not bring problems for us. So all the areas that we
used to have some irritations, we should avoid them and let's work
together and see that the next candidates we present for all levels of
election from the least the councillorship to the highest the
presidency should be candidates selected by the people.
"The party has to set up machinery to make sure that we resolve at
least most of these crises before the elections because I have
mentioned severally that on my own part and on the part of the
government, we will make sure that the votes of Nigerians count for
the final election," he declared.
Source: Thisday
Baobab magazine and
www.baobabafricaonline.com are published by Baobab Media,
18, Adeleke Street, Ikeja, Lagos. Baobab Media International: 9703
Locust Avenue, Lanham, MD20706-2339. United States of America
..