National co-ordinator of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) Otunba Gani Adams, has called for the immediate sack of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Attahiru Jega.
According to Premium Times, Adams a supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan, disclosed this while speaking at his organisation’s Eledumare Festival in Lagos on Sunday, March 8.
Among the reasons for his call, Adams said Jega has failed to explain how INEC was able to successfully distribute 90 per cent of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in North East despite the insurgency in the region.
“I Otunba Gani Adams is using this forum to call for immediate sack, removal or retirement of Professor Attahiru Jega, the chairman of INEC on the basis of PVC distribution, introduction of card reader and creation of 30000 bogus and fraudulent polling units in the northern part of Nigeria against the southern part,” he said.
Adams also voiced his opposition to the use of card readers for the general elections, saying, “We have not heard how card readers contributed or added value to any major election in the world.
“To me, it’s an attempt cleverly being injected by Jega to cause delay, confuse voters and prevent majority of voters in exercising their franchise on that day”.
The electoral agency had explained that the decision to use card readers was to limit electoral fraud by ensuring that only true owners of legitimate cards could use them to vote. The All Progressives Congress (APC) who supports the use of the readers, has repeatedly alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its supporters, do not want the readers used so as to perpetuate electoral fraud.
Despite INEC announcing it had dropped the plan to create additional polling units after the announcement last year, Adams accused the INEC chairman of proceeding with the plan.
“In his ingenious but highly fraudulent stride at rigging the election, Professor Jega has gone through the back door at creating an additional 30,000 polling units not known to law and designated as voting centres to deceive people having been heavily criticised by distinguished and eminent Nigerians,” he said.
While calling for Jega’s sack, Adams urged the federal government to begin the search for a new INEC chairman.
“The new chair can come from anywhere. He can come from the north or south. I’m not choosing for the President, but Jega should go” he said.
Last week, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, also a major supporter of the president, supported the sack.
It would be recalled that the head of OPC, Otunba Gani Adams, said that six million members of the group have resolved to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan at the forthcoming presidential polls.
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