Buhari’s Supporters Warn Against Removing Jega

The umbrella body of all
voluntary groups working for the election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, Buhari Support Organisation (BSO), has warned against the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Attahiru Jega.
The group said any attempt to change the leadership of the INEC would amount to tampering with the credibility of the elections and the independence of the commission.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja yesterday, BSO’s Director of Media, Dr. Chinda Maduekwe, said the campaign against INEC by paid commentators and supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan was aimed at scuttling the general elections and returning the country to the days of June 12 when the election of Chief M.K.O. Abiola was annulled.
He alleged of a possible legal plan to consolidate several cases about the elections and candidates still pending in court, by pro-Jonathan groups that might seek injunctions to stop the elections until such cases are resolved.
Madueke said part of the propaganda would be to force the INEC Chairman to resign or be forced to proceed on terminal leave and be replaced by another northern Muslim Professor, who will carry out the bidding of the government and its agents.
According to him, “it has become imperative to ask Mr. President to rein in his aides if he must be seen to walk his talk that his ambition is not worth any spill of human blood. His aides and associates are disingenuously currently working at cross – purposes to this his favourite cliché by daily fanning the ambers of hate, pursuance of death with and even going as far as stalking GMB outside the shores of this country”.
The group insists, “We certainly shall not subscribe to any script that is centred on how to oust Jega by forcefully sending him on terminal leave and replacing him with another Northern Muslim professor considered to be a more pliable successor. Such a scenario demanding for more time to enable the new commission chair to settle down before holding any elections is another shifting of the goal post.
“The worse would be the push to stop INEC from using the new electronic PVC – Card readers, thereby allowing unfettered access to intended election – day fraud without deterrence.
In tandem with above scenario, we are presently being bombarded with multiple pro-government TV and radio talk show commentators and apologists strenuously mould public opinion on the issue that INEC has not tested the card reader in any previous local election and should not use the presidential and National Assembly polls to do so”.