The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Attahiru Jega is under security watch over allegations that he leased his personal apartments located in choice areas of Abuja to the commission and that some of his principal aides could pose a threat to national security.
Findings by LEADERSHIP indicate that the electoral umpire is being closely monitored by security officials, especially what sources said has to do with the funding of the activities of the commission outside of its budget and the flouting of extant civil service rules concerning staff accommodation.
The Presidency, it was learnt, was irked by the registration of two main opposition political parties, the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) by INEC under Jega’s watch. Everything government has against him is now being made public and could likely affect his fate as the commission’s chairman.
The security agencies, we gathered, are investigating the alleged monthly payment of the sum of N1 million every month to five aides of the INEC chairman by the United Nations Development Project (UNDP), .
The aides are his chief of staff, special assistant, personal assistant, chief technical adviser and chief press secretary. This development, it was learnt, is considered a security risk to the nation.
The INEC chairman is also being investigated for allegedly leasing his personal apartments in highbrow Maitama District of Abuja to the commission as its guest house, where the chairman’s five personal aides live.
The security agencies are also believed to be investigating the alleged renting of another of his personal properties to the commission as INEC office at Wuse 2, Abuja.
Jega is also being investigated for retaining and hiring a Kenyan ICT consultant, a development that security agencies see as having the potential to undermine national security.
“The action jeopardises national security both in electoral matters and related ones as voters and candidates as well as political parties’ details would be in the domain of a foreign company which can employ them for any use,” a source told LEADERSHIP.
INEC Keeps Mum
Several efforts made to get a reaction from INEC were fruitless as the chief press officer to Jega, Kayode Idowu, did not pick calls made to his GSM line, 08070591314.
After the repeated calls by LEADERSHIP that were ignored, a text message was equally sent to Idowu at about 7:14pm but it was not responded to.
The message reads thus: ‘Please we have made several efforts to reach you for clarifications on some allegations against your chairman bordering on abuse of office.”
The same text was sent again at 9:35pm, but with a plea to reply to it promptly, but by time of going to press, Idowu had neither replied the text messages nor called back to react to the allegations.
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