Election postponement is not acceptable to us~Nort

Prominent northern groups and individuals on Friday opposed calls for
the postponement of the forthcoming general elections while they also
vowed to resist any attempt by the Federal Government to sack
Professor Attahiru Jega as the Chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission.
In separate interviews with a source, those who spoke lambasted the
Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly led by Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin
Clark, for seeking the postponement of the polls.
They also condemned the Assembly's call for the sacking and arrest of
Jega for allegedly conniving with northern leaders to rig President
Goodluck Jonathan out of office.
The SNPA, at a press conference on Thursday, threatened that elections
would not hold in the southern part of the country should the
commission decide to go ahead with the exercise as scheduled.
However, the apex northern socio-political group, Arewa Consultative
Forum, said it might be forced to push for a boycott of the elections
in the North if it was shifted.
A National Executive Council member of the ACF, Mohammed Abdulrahman,
said, "Any attempt by the Federal Government, colluding with the PDP,
to postpone the elections or sack Prof. Attahiru Jega and replace him
with a pliant alternative will only increase the challenges this
current administration under President Jonathan is facing.
"The North may boycott the election if it is shifted. Jega has said it
several times that INEC is ready to conduct the elections."
Corroborating Abdulrahman, the past National Publicity Secretary of
the ACF, Mr. Anthony Sani, warned Nigerians not to rule out the
possibility of the removal of Jega, just as the former Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (now the Emir of Kano), Lamido Sanusi, was
removed from office.
Sani said, "When they say Prof. Jega should be sacked because there
have been allegations that there is connivance between INEC and
northerners to rig President Jonathan out of office, I begin to wonder
how northerners, who bring up the rear in almost everything under the
sun, would be able to outsmart the South in that regard."
Similarly, the NEF on Friday said it was surprised that the Presidency
had become jittery over the elections.
The Deputy Chairman of the Maitama Sule-led forum, Dr. Paul Unongo,
said the INEC Chairman supervised the 2011 election and declared
Jonathan the winner and Buhari the loser despite that Jega is of
northern origin like the latter.
He also queried why the PDP and the Presidency had not called for the
postponement of the elections since INEC made the time-table public
over one year ago.
Similarly, the National Coordinator, Coalition of Northern
Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, Dr. Junaid
Mohammed, described as "insidious and self-serving" the southern
leaders' call for Jega's resignation.
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He stated that Jega could not be forcefully removed, as the Electoral
Law was clear on his appointment.
"Even the National Assembly cannot remove him without two-thirds
majority. The President has no power to remove him and he cannot try
what he tried with (former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor) Lamido
Sanusi by saying they are suspending him. He has no right to even
suspend him," Mohammed stated.
In the same vein, the National President, Arewa Youths Consultative
Forum, Mr. Yerima Shettima, said calls for poll postponement were
strange.
He said, "If INEC says it is prepared, then the Federal Government
should allow the commission to go ahead with the elections. Let us
remember that whoever triggers any tension does so at the expense of
the entire nation.
Similarly, the Tanko Yakassai-led Northern Elders Counci said no one
could sack Jega apart from the National Assembly.
Yakassai said, "They had better read the constitution; Jega can only
resign on his own. The provision in the constitution for the removal
of the chairman of the commission is clear. The Senate can begin the
process, but they cannot tell him to resign.
Meanwhile, the British High Commission told the source on Friday that
it was in support of credible elections in Nigeria. The High
Commission's press officer, Edward Dunn, said it was willing to work
with the Federal Government to achieve this.
He said, "We welcome the recent signing of the Abuja Accord and other
similar commitments around the country. We call on all political
parties, security forces and other actors to do everything possible to
ensure Nigerians are able to exercise their democratic rights, free
from the threat of violence."
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