President Goodluck Jonathan, on
Tuesday, said he never discussed with anyone that he will remove the
chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor
Attahiru Jega.
Also, to affirm his commitment to
successful holding of the general election, President Jonathan said the
elections will hold as scheduled by INEC.
He said the Federal Government
was not planning to remove Professor Jega from office, adding: that “I can’t
wake up and change INEC chairman. I have never discussed with any human being
on earth that we are changing INEC chairman.”
The president disclosed this
while speaking during an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera’s Yvonne Ndege, in
Lagos.
In the 6:38 minutes interview,
Jonathan denied mishandling the Boko Haram crisis and allegations that a recent
escalation in military operations against the group was politically motivated,
while he also expressed fears about violence during elections.
When asked if he was worried
about losing the election, he confidently answered in the opposite, saying, “I
won’t lose the election.”
But when pressed further if he
was ready to hand over graciously if defeated, he said he would go back to his
village.
“If by default somebody wins the
election, of course, I will go to my village. The country is not my father’s
estate, I want to serve,” President Jonathan said.
The presient said the issue of
corruption, as it concerns his government, had been turned to a political
matter, which he said politicians had blown out of proportion, while he also
faulted the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over allegation
that $49.8 billion was mismanaged under his administration.
“Our budget has been about over
N3 trillion and on the average, our budget has been between $18 billion to $20
billion a year and you are saying we lost $49.8 billion, that means the federal
and state governments will not pay salaries.
“I don’t know how he came about
those figures. Then next moment, he changed from $49.8 billion to $12 billion,
next day, it was $20 billion, this time, I don’t know which one is the correct
accusation,” President Jonathan said.
Full text of the interview is
presented below:
How has Boko Haram been completely
defeated?
From the beginning, we have been
saying that we lack certain weapons to confront Boko Haram, because of the
nature of the terror attacks and the environment and we have been trying to get
these weapons. At least, we’ve received 65 per cent to 75 per cent of these
weapons, we are convinced that we can reasonably confront Boko Haram and we are
determined. You cannot fight militia group that do not respect international
laws.
Why is this sudden step up of
operations against Boko Haram? Some people believe it is because you are afraid
of losing the election on the issue of security?
It is an act of ignorance. In a
political environment, if one party, especially if a party claims it is going
to the left, you must find a way of going to the left, they must find something
to tell the people.
So, are you worried about losing
the election?
I won’t lose the election.
Will the election be postponed
again?
I don’t think so. I believe the
election will hold as scheduled by INEC, that is the national election fixed
for 28th of this month (March). I don’t see why we should postpone it again,
because I’m quite impressed with the successes going on in the North.
There is a recent thing about the
postponement. In 2011, we conducted elections in Nigeria and we had Boko Haram.
The fact is that we think somehow the level of build-up of Boko Haram was quite
serious and from all indications, people are trying to use them to disrupt the
election.
In 2011, there were no such
signals and if you disrupt election in a number of states, especially in a
presidential election, it will affect declaration of results. So, the security
services didn’t want to take any chances. They did not tell Nigerians that Boko
Haram must be routed 100 per cent before election can be conducted; they want
to degrade them to a stage that they will not have the kind of strength that
they will come out and disrupt election.
In terms of taking over our
territories, yes, we will take over all our territories and very soon, there
will no longer be a part of Nigeria where they will hoist a flag, claiming that
this is a Boko Haram territory.
Will you say you undermined the
seriousness or mishandled this crisis?
No, it is not a question of
mishandling it; Boko Haram didn’t start with me.
Is it true you want to remove
INEC chairman?
Except somebody is insinuating
that the chairman has done something wrong, you cannot change an officer except
that person has done something wrong. Government, whether at the state or
federal levels, a president or governor, does not wake up and change somebody,
especially INEC. It is a very sensitive body, so, for me to change INEC
chairman, both Nigerians and non-Nigerians will ask questions. I can’t wake up
and change INEC chairman. I’ve never discussed with any human being on earth
that we are changing INEC chairman.
Tags
Politics