The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed rumours that its Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, is planning to embark on terminal leave on March 1. Reacting to the rumour, Jega's Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said his boss was busy preparing for the conduct of the general elections.
“Jega is busy preparing for the elections and you are asking about terminal leave. Does anyone planning to conduct elections go on terminal leave? There is nothing like that.”
In an earlier interview, Mr. Idowu said the postponement of the elections would afford INEC more time to make adequate preparations for the March 28 and April 11 elections. He also denied the report that Prof. Jega had resigned due to pressure from the Presidency.
Meanwhile, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, has said Jega cannot be forced to embark on a terminal leave because he is not a civil servant.
“I do not consider the Chairman of INEC as a civil servant subject to civil service rules the same way I, as a member of the House of Representatives, is not a civil servant. There is a difference between a civil servant and a public servant or officer. Jega falls under the latter,” Gbajabiamila said.
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