By Soni Daniel

Abuja—Despite declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan that he does not intend to remove the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, a group has insisted that he must step down in accordance with laid down public service regulations.

The group, Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria, said at a press conference in Abuja that Jega did not deserve to remain in office to conduct the 2015 since it was time for him to proceed on pre-retirement leave like his predecessor, Maurice Iwu, did in 2010.

The Director-General of the group, Preye Dressman, asked INEC as a public institution, backed by law and duly recognised by the constitution to be properly guided by the provisions that are clearly enshrined in the book.

Dressman said, “We have duly carried out our research and found nowhere, where it is written or insinuated that INEC is a private organisation to be run differently from what has become sacrosanct, with respect to its contemporaries. By that, I mean other public service institutions in Nigeria.

“It is instructive to note that his (Jega) tenure as INEC chairman is a 5-year arrangement which is clearly indicated in the law establishing the commission. By June this year, that tenure would have been fully exhausted, leaving the president with the prerogative of either retaining him or replacing him.

“Objectively speaking, there is nothing sinister or strange about asking Prof Jega to proceed on a disengagement leave at this time. This to us is not tantamount to removal as has been bandied by members of the opposition APC and other disgruntled elements who have chosen to cry wolf at every development that they read as being inimical to their interest.”