NewsPaper: I never told anyone I would remove Jega —Jonathan

CONTRARY to widespread belief and rumour doing the rounds, 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.
There is this perception that corruption has gone worse under President Goodluck Jonathan, what do you say?
On the corruption issue, even if you look at the perception of Corruption Perception Index, people talk about corruption now because it becomes a political issue. When you promote something to a level of politics, normally it is blown out of proportion.
Yes, we have corruption cases, yes we have cases of people stealing, no doubt about that. I’ve always said that call a thief a thief and I’m not saying that in Nigeria, we don’t have elements of corruption or stealing, even it starts from the former CBN governor, who initially said that $49.8 billion were missing, that was a lot of money.
What is the budget of this country for God’s sake? 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. 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.
Of course, the Senate set up a committee and they used consultants to look into it and they said that over $2 billion couldn’t be properly balanced, they did not say somebody stole it and there was no evidence to prove it was stolen but it was not properly balanced.
A lot of people are worried about violence during election, are you worried about violence?
Yes, I’m worried too and I’m not happy.
You said you are going to win this election, but if you don’t win, will you bow out gracefully?
I will win the election. 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.