The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review its practice of appointing politically exposed academics as returning and collation officers for the 2027 general elections.
The opposition party said academics who had publicly endorsed political candidates should not be entrusted with the collation or declaration of results involving those candidates.
In a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said the development raised questions about the neutrality of academics who could subsequently be appointed by INEC to manage aspects of the election.
The party, however, acknowledged that university lecturers and other academics, like every other Nigerian, have the constitutional right to support candidates of their choice.
It argued that such political involvement should become a consideration when INEC selects officials responsible for handling election results.
“You cannot campaign for a candidate and then be entrusted with counting the votes and declaring winners in the same election that your candidate is contesting in,” the statement reads.
The ADC therefore urged INEC to develop and publish clear criteria for screening prospective returning and collation officers.
It said people who had publicly endorsed candidates, participated in partisan political activities, or demonstrated an obvious political affiliation should be excluded from such sensitive electoral responsibilities.
The party also called on INEC to publish the names of proposed returning and collation officers well ahead of the elections.
According to the ADC, this would give political parties and other stakeholders an opportunity to identify and raise legitimate concerns about possible conflicts of interest before the polls.
“The integrity of an election does not begin when the first ballot is cast. It begins with the neutrality of the people entrusted to administer, collate, and declare its outcome,” the party said.
“Nigerians must never be placed in a position where those who have publicly chosen a side are subsequently presented as neutral arbiters of the contest.”
ADC’s call followed reports that more than 600 senior academics from public universities and higher institutions across northern Nigeria had endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in the 2027 presidential election.
The endorsement was made at a meeting convened by Ibrahim Masari, the President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, in Kaduna.
The meeting, held at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Kaduna, was convened by Masari and focused on the administration’s performance and the 2027 election.
According to reports, the meeting was held behind closed doors, with journalists later admitted to witness the reading of the communiqué issued at the end of the gathering.
The communiqué was read by the Vice-Chancellor of Kaduna State University, Prof Abdullahi Musa.
Reports of the meeting said the academics assessed the Tinubu administration’s performance in areas including the economy, security, education, infrastructure and social welfare before declaring their support for his re-election.
An invitation to the meeting reportedly identified securing the “endorsement and active support of the academic community” for Tinubu’s re-election as one of its objectives.
The gathering was themed “Consolidating the Renewed Hope Agenda: Three Years of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Achievements and the Road to 2027.”
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