Jonathan: No plan to sack Jega

Jonathan said this in Abuja last night during the presidential media chat.Asked whether he has confidence in Jega despite the accusations against him by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Jonathan said if he feels Jega is not good, for obvious reasons, he could use his constitutional power to remove him.“If you ask Jega, he would […]

Jonathan said this in Abuja last night during the presidential media chat.
Asked whether he has confidence in Jega despite the accusations against him by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Jonathan said if he feels Jega is not good, for obvious reasons, he could use his constitutional power to remove him.
“If you ask Jega, he would tell you. I appointed all the commissioners and resident electoral commissioners in INEC. They are my appointees. So, if I feel that Jega is not good enough for obvious reasons, then I can by that provision of the constitution, that gives the person who appointed him the power, to remove him. But I have not told anybody that I am going to remove Jega”.
The president said some people were using the opportunity of the election rescheduling to create confusion and misinform Nigerians.
“One thing about politics or leadership generally is that when you’re a leader, you’ve your members who support you, but what they do or say…maybe somebody has been making statements to advance your cause, the assumption is that the person is close to you and he is your fan. There are too many messages that go out and sometimes I call people. More than 80 percent of people sponsoring these messages I don’t even know. So, whatever that person says is different from Jonathan.
Elections will hold
President Jonathan also assured Nigerians that elections would be conducted and a new government inaugurated on May 29.
He described as incredible, stories that elections would not be conducted.
“Elections must be conducted and a government inaugurated on May 29. Let’s not be perturbed by stories that are not real.
“These stories belong to the garbage. The stories are not credible. Let me reassure Nigerians that we will conduct elections.
“It is better for INEC to conduct elections that will be free and fair. It is only proper that Nigerians are given the opportunity to vote.
“I want a situation where every [eligible] Nigerian will vote. Even if they cannot distribute PVC 100 percent, let the percentage improve”, he said.  
Service chiefs didn’t consult me on poll shift
Jonathan also claimed that the service chiefs did not consult him on the need for the elections’ postponement.
He was responding to a question on whether he believed the elections were shifted for the reasons the INEC gave.
“People are not being fair to me…In a number of cases in Africa; we’ve had cases where governments reschedule elections to extend tenure.
“This is not the case in Nigeria.  In Nigeria, the law is very clear about when elections should be conducted, not less than 30 days to the inauguration of the new government and not more than 150 days before the inauguration of the new government.
“But within that period, if there are issues that could require the electoral body to adjust the date…INEC works with security services because they must provide protection for the election materials and staff and for the country.
The security services did not consult me. “Of course I was not consulted and I did not want to be consulted. In 2011, INEC didn’t consult me (before shifting the election). If they had consulted me, I wouldn’t have wasted my time and government resources. For any trip I make, I know what the government spends”.
Insurgency not only reason for poll shift
The president also noted that it was not the Boko Haram insurgency alone that led to the shift of the polls. He said the tense atmosphere witnessed during the electioneering campaign period was another factor.
On why the government hopes to contain the Boko Haram insurgency within six weeks having failed to do so in six years, Jonathan said: “I’m not the Chief of Defence Staff, but I’m the chief security officer of the federation. There are two things to it. The recent Council of State meeting emphasised this issue of security…There are two things to the security. Yes, the Boko Haram is there; but also the tensed factor in the country. When INEC came up with the dates for elections, there was so much threat and the security agencies saw a lot of red points and they believed elections should be shifted, otherwise the whole country would go into flames.
“And when the issue of PVC was also being branded as a problem, INEC said it was ready…in Lagos, only about 38 percent of eligible voters have PVCs…
“We’ve found it difficult to really contain Boko Haram the way we ought to have done because we could not get the platform and the equipment we needed for the army and the navy.
“Luckily, we’ve got a substantial quantity of this for now. I’ve had several meetings with the president of Chad for example who was willing to send troops, but before he does that the United Nations must key-in so that whatever he is doing has legal backing.
“The issue of security is beyond Boko Haram because within this campaign period, there were some instigations which I believe  some politicians used some young people to act the way they are not expected to act…we’ve seen some very dangerous signals and no security chiefs will take it lightly.
You would agree with me that the aspect of the attempt to pelt the presidential convoy by young, ignorant people, because I saw them myself, is treasonable offence…”
On war threats by kinsmen
On whether he was not worried by the threat of war by his kinsmen if he is not re-elected, Jonathan said his government would make sure that things are done “in such a way that nobody goes to war. We will not encourage anybody to destroy this country. We must protect this country. And those who support us must not destroy this country”.
The president also stated that he would concede defeat if he loses the March 28 presidential election, noting that a lot of other African sitting presidents had lost elections.
“If in 2011, I said that I would conduct free and fair elections and if I lose, I’d happily go home and it should be recorded. And as at that time, no African sitting presidents has lost election. But within this period, a lot of African sitting presidents have lost election. But I said I want to create the history to be the first African president to lose election but let the world know that the elections are free and fair.
Chibok girls story will change in weeks
On the fate of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram sect last April, the president said there were renewed efforts to rescue them.
He said some people were playing politics with the case of the schoolgirls’ abduction instead of supporting his administration’s efforts towards freeing the captives.
“I believe now that we are working with Chad, working with Cameroon. I believe in the next few weeks, the story of the chibok girls will change. It’s going to get better. I believe we should be able to rescue some of them.
“But I don’t want to be quoted, I don’t want you to say the president said that in two weeks’ time or in four weeks’ time. I cannot say that because the disappearance of those girls has taken quite some time. But we’ve mapped out strategies, we’re working with our neighbours and we’ll comb all the areas. So, just give us some time.”