President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday queried the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for not inviting a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsay Orubebe, to the 2018 Democracy Day Lecture.
Buhari noted that Orubebe should have been present to listen to the lecture delivered by the then Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
During the 2015 election at the collation of results in Abuja, the former minister nearly disrupted the hall as he accused Jega of bias
Recalling the saga, Buhari said: “Here I must digress to raise an observation by the programme organisers because I did not see Mr Orubebe who ought to have come and listen to professor Jega deliver his lecture, this is a major observation.
“That instance, for those of us who were lucky that there was light and we had the television to see the confrontation between Orubebe and Prof Jega, it will remain a life impression to many of us.
“The other one is the Prof Jega briefing to the government, the opposition and the military before the date of the election was finally agreed on.
“Prof Jega, as a professor, it was not surprising, briefed us of his activities between 2011 and 2015, the recruitment, equipping and training of INEC officials, that gave those of us who are lucky to get the report, the courage that nothing outside the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria would be accepted by the opposition.”
