The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Atahiru Jega cannot go on leave or resign, Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, has said.
He told journalists during the Nigerians United for Democracy (NUD) rally held at Ojota, Lagos on yesterday. According to him, the INEC chairman is not a civil servant and thus cannot go on terminal leave.
“There is no provision…Jega has a five year tenure which is renewable under section 155 of the constitution. There is no provision for sabbatical or terminal leave. Jega is not a civil servant to be ordered by the head of service to proceed on leave and in any case, you can’t go on leave when the basic duty for which the constitution has appointed you is been performed so there is no room for resignation or sabbatical leave,” Mr. Falana said.
He maintained that the general elections cannot be further postponed stating that the constitution states that elections must hold 30 days before handing over date.
Falana (SAN) at the road rally in Lagos said the civil society was ready a showdown with anyone who may want to abort the polls.
The rally took the activists from Maryland Roundabout to Ojota.
They carried placards and banners with such inscriptions as : ‘Remember June 12′ ;’Don’t politicise INEC’; ‘On March 28, 2015 we stand’; ‘No more excuses’; ‘No interim government’; ‘Bring back our girls’; ‘Jega is not your employee;’ and ‘No to military rule again in Nigeria’.
Falana told The Nation on Sunday at the rally that the group would mobilise Nigerians to oppose and resist any fresh attempt to postpone the elections.
Of the rally, he said: “We are here on the platform of an organisation called, Nigerians United for Democracy (NUD) to demand for the elections because there are indications that the elections may be cancelled.
“We want to pressurise the Jonathan administration not to frustrate the INEC from conducting the general elections. We do not want any further postponement. We want the government to respect and recognise the democratic right of the Nigerian people to vote for candidates of their choice.
“We are here to sound a note of warning that we are going to mobilise the whole country if they insist on any further postponement of the elections.”
He stated that the decision of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to shift the elections from February to March without consulting with the people was undemocratic.
He said the unfolding political situation in the country requires the involvement of all Nigerians.
“The challenge of today is your challenge, it is ours; it is our collective responsibility to respond,” he said.
“No government since 1960 has ever defeated the Nigerian people; all the governments that attempted to truncate the democratic process were chased out of power. Even military dictators could not frustrate the democratic process. So once we mobilise Nigerians to demand for democracy, no force can defeat them.”
Falana also asked the military to steer clear of politics as it is not their business to determine when elections should be conducted .
“Just like other Nigerians, they have the fundamental right to vote for the candidates of their choice but they have no right to tell INEC when to hold elections and when not to hold elections,” he stated.
“Elections were held in Syria, Afghanistan, and Libya. What will be the excuse for not holding elections in Nigeria. In Yobe State local government elections were held in 2013 and there was no incident. The president was in Maiduguri to campaign, Buhari too, and there were no incidents. So why should they stop elections because of insurgency?”
“Constitutionally, elections cannot be further postponed; if the government does it, it will be asking for anarchy and there is no provision for it in the constitution. The president has repeatedly assured Nigerians that there is no room for interim national government.
“We have also been told that there will be no coup, therefore, we have to operate within the ambit of the law and that is why you cannot go beyond April 11 to conduct election because under the constitution, election must be held not later than 30 days to the handing over date. That means all the elections must be completed before April 29,” he said.
Falana said the rally was not in support of any political party but to warn the government not to tamper with the new election dates.
“The government has said those dates are sacrosanct, but we are only here to warn them that if there is any attempt to thinker with those dates, we would mobilise Nigerians to throw out all the antics of anti-democratic system”.
He urged the armed forces not to interfere with electoral process stressing that it is not their duty to determine when elections will be held.
“We expect that the government will appreciate that Nigerian people will not allow any further postponement of the election dates. We also want the armed forces to stay clear of democratic process. It’s not their business to determine when to hold election. Just like other Nigerians, they have the fundamental right to vote for a candidate of their choice, but they have no right to tell INEC when to hold election and when not to hold to hold election,” he said.
He reminded the current administration of how past governments who attempted to truncate democratic process were chased out of power.
“Even military dictators could not frustrate democratic process, for that reason, once we mobilise Nigerians, no force can stop us,” he said.
The NUD rally which kicked off from Maryland to the Gani Fawehimi Park in Ojota saw attendance by other democracy activists including the Nigerian Labour Congress Vice president, Isa Aremu; former NADECO and Afenifere member, Ayo Opadokun; lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, amongst others.
