The decision of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, to retain the Osun State Resident Electoral Commisioner, Mr Taiwo Akeju, ahead of August 9th election has split the commission into camps with top officials pointing the finger at one another over the developmemt.
Reports from within the commission indicated that at its recent meeting, suggestions by three of the six commissioners to raise the issue was stopped by the commission’s chairman and another commissioner representing South West in INEC. Jega was quoted as having told the meeting that his decision on the Osun REC should not be questioned, a position reportedly backed by one of the commissioners.
The other commissioners were said to have prepared a memo in which they had hoped to argue that redeploying Akeju would redeem the battered image of the commission ahead of the election. The memo identified lack of confidence in the REC, not just by PDP but by other political parties except the All Progressives Congress, in the state as justification for their decision to call for redeploymemt of the REC.
The memo further cited open defence of the REC by the Osun State government as a confirmation of allegations of partisanship levelled by other political parties, advising that the commission should create a level playing field by redeploying Akeju and posting an impartial umpire to conduct the August election.
For the first time, the secret memo also admitted that a court order stopping Akeju from conducting the 2011 election was served on the commission, but that Jega overruled concerns of other commissioners who had called on the commission to obey the order. The memo further gave insight into complications that arrose after Jega railroaded the commission to reject the order.
Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the National Chairman of INEC, Mr Kayode Idowu, has said that the REC will not be redeployed.
He made the position of the commission known to Sunday Tribune in Abuja, on Saturday, on the incessant calls for the removal of Akeju as Osun REC ahead of the election.
According to Mr Idowu, “INEC does not act on the basis of partisan allegations; those calling for the REC’s redeployment should come up with concrete facts. Once this is done, the commission will look into the facts passionately and take appropriate action.”
He, however, assured that the commission would do everything possible to make the election credible and acceptable to all the political parties and the people of the state, saying that there was no cause for alarm as the commission would not give room for any form of rigging.
Source: Tribune
