Monday 16 February 2015
Dose the president have constitutional power to sack Jega?
DOES THE PRESIDENT HAVE CONSTITUTIONAL
POWER TO SACK JEGA? Saturday, 14 February 2015 21:11. Written by e-Reporter. INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega
President Goodluck Jonathan, at the recent
media chat, said he was vested with the
constitutional power to sack Chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) Prof. Attahiru Jega. He said “I appointed him. If I feel he is not
doing well, there are constitutional provisions
on how to remove him, but I have not even
contemplated it. I have never thought about
removing the INEC Chairman, though I have the
constitutional power to do so.” But, disclosures by the Nigeria Civil Society
Situation Room, faulted the claim by President
Goodluck Jonathan. Speaking for the group made up of lawyers and
civil rights activists, Clement Nwankwo, argued
that the INEC, not being a civil service
institution, was not subject to both the civil
service rules and the control of the Head of the
Civil Service of the Federation. Nwankwo said, “The Constitution (Section 157)
is very clear on the appointment of the
Chairman and members of INEC. “The President makes the nomination, he sends
it to the Senate and the Senate votes to
confirm it. Once a nominee is confirmed by the
Senate, the person remains in office until the
last date, amounting to five years of his tenure. “Such a person can only be removed by the
Senate, voting on a two-third majority. Outside
of that, the President has absolutely no powers
to suspend, to ask a Commissioner or Chairman
to proceed on a pre-retirement leave, or to
remove them under any circumstance. Any purported removal would be a constitutional
violation for which the President could be
impeached.” “Apart from the constitutional question, the
President, for the integrity of the electoral
process, should be quite wary about what he
says. It is important that the President realizes
that INEC is a special body because of the
special nature of its activities. And, the President is now a party in the electoral
contest. So, he should be wary about the kind
of things he says concerning the umpire in the
election in which he is a participant.
(Leadership) Source: #Ereporters News.
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