•Threaten court action against FG over INEC boss
•Warn against poll shift
THE House of Representatives, on Tuesday, vowed to initiate court action in Nigeria and at the International Criminal Court, over alleged plots to remove the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega and further shift of the March 28 and April 11 election dates...
The House resolution was sequel to a motion “on threat to further tamper with the status quo arrangements for the 2015 general election” moved by Honourable Ali Ahmad.
However, attempt by the Deputy House Leader, Honourable Leo Ogor, to stop the motion, which he claimed was “totally speculative” was turned down by the Speaker, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, who overruled his point of order to stop the motion.
The House, after passing the motion, resolved to “hold personally accountable at domestic judicial forum or at the International Criminal Court, any person or organisation that foists on INEC any decision or action whatsoever, including unconstitutional attempt to remove the current INEC chairman before March 28 and April 11.
To this end, the House urged “the political class, government of the federation, states and security agencies to heed the warning of imminent and danger associated with any interference with the existing schedules of the general election.”
While moving the motion, Honourable Ahmad claimed that the initial postponement of the general election for six weeks due to the security concerns related to the Boko Haram insurgency had further heightened the tempo for pre-election violence.
The lawmaker further alleged that there were threats and insinuation to precipitate actions that would cause further alteration to the status quo arrangements and regulation of the general election, stressing that “such threats to tamper with the status quo may take several forms including, but not limited to, illegal removal of the current INEC chairman.”
According to him, “any such deliberately induced violence may snowball as it did in 2011 post-election period into widespread or systematic attack, persecution, arson, murder, thereby, amounting to serious crimes of concern to the international community, as contained in Article 5 of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Nigeria is a signatory.”
When the motion was put to vote by Tambuwal, it was unanimously supported by members.
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