Odita Sunday 
By Odita Sunday
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review the appointment of politically exposed academics as Returning and Collation Officers for the 2027 general elections, warning that partisan officials could undermine confidence in the electoral process.
The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, made the call in a statement on Monday, following a newspaper report that more than 600 senior lecturers from public universities across Northern Nigeria had endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election.
Abdullahi said the reported endorsement had raised serious questions about electoral credibility and possible conflicts of interest, particularly because university lecturers and vice chancellors had routinely been entrusted with the sensitive responsibility of collating election results and declaring winners.
While acknowledging that academics, like every other Nigerian, have a constitutional right to support or endorse political candidates, Abdullahi argued that those who had openly taken partisan positions should not subsequently be entrusted with determining the outcome of an election involving their preferred candidates.
“The principle is straightforward: 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,” he said.
Abdullahi therefore called on INEC to establish and publish clear criteria for excluding academics and other prospective election officials who had publicly endorsed candidates, participated in partisan political activities or otherwise demonstrated obvious political affiliation.
He also urged the electoral commission to publish the names of proposed Returning and Collation Officers sufficiently ahead of the elections to enable political parties and members of the public to identify and raise legitimate concerns over possible conflicts of interest.
According to him, the credibility of an election depends not only on the conduct of voters and political parties but also on the neutrality of those entrusted with administering, collating and declaring the results.
“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,” Abdullahi said.
He added that Nigerians should not be placed in a situation where people who had publicly chosen sides in a political contest were later presented as neutral arbiters of the same contest.
The ADC spokesman stressed that the party’s position was not aimed at denying academics or any other citizens their political rights, but at ensuring that individuals assigned sensitive electoral responsibilities maintained the confidence of all participants in the process.
He said INEC must take proactive steps to prevent avoidable controversies over the impartiality of election officials ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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