Ag. President Jonathan sacks Iwu, the INEC boss

The Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has directed the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu, to proceed on pre- disengagement leave with immediate effect.
Picture: Maurice Iwu
This directive is in consonance with Section 155(1) (c), which stipulates that the Chairman and members of the Independent Electoral Commission shall hold office for a period of five years.
This is seen as a welcome development by a cross section of the country. Many people and civil society groups have openly campaign for the sack of the electoral body chairman as a result of his inability to organise credible elections.  Their stance has also been supported by the US government.
His term would have ended in any case on 13th June, 2010 but the decision to remove him early lends credibility to Mr Jonathan’s vow to avoid a repeat of the three violent, rigged polls of civilian rule.
A successor is expected to be named shortly. There are two main contenders, a person familiar with the situation said.

One is Olisa Agbakoba, a former head of the Nigerian Bar Association and a veteran democracy activist jailed under Sani Abacha’s dictatorship of the 1990s. The other is Professor Attahiru Jega, vice-chancellor of Bayero University in the main northern city of Kano.
Both men served on an electoral reform panel headed by Mohammed Lawal Uwais, a former chief justice whose recommendations are regarded by activists and reform-minded politicians as a blueprint for improved elections.
Professor Iwu has also been directed to hand over to the most senior National Commissioner, who shall oversee the activities of the commission pending the appointment of a substantive chairman.

 The Acting President thanked the out going Chairman of INEC for his service to the nation and wished him success in his future endeavours.