Obahiagbon Says President Has No Powers To Remove INEC Chairman

The Chief of Staff to the Edo State Governor, Patrick Obahiagbon, says the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, does not have the powers to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, noting that he is not a civil servant but a public servant.
Obahiagbon said in a chat with Channels Television, Benin, Edo State capital, that any attempt to remove Jega at this period would lead to a constitutional crisis.

Being a Legal Practitioner and a former House of Representatives member, he stated that plans to remove the INEC boss was unconstitutional.

In recent times, there had been controversies surrounding a purported removal of the INEC boss.

The House of Representatives in Nigeria has also warned against the removal of  Professor Attahiru Jega, by any individual or institutions.

The warning came on Tuesday after a motion, seeking to stop any planned removal of Professor Jega was adopted by the House.

The issue was also echoed by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, when he received members of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room at the National Assembly.

However, during his Presidential Media Chat in February, President Goodluck Jonathan had said that there were no plans to sack the Chairman of INEC, saying “the rumours belonged to the garbage world”.