2027: ADC Urges INEC to Exclude Partisan Lecturers from Election Collation
By Nafiu Muhammad Lema
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review its criteria for appointing university lecturers and other academics as returning and collation officers for the 2027 general elections.
The party said individuals who have publicly declared support for political candidates should not be appointed to positions that involve collating results or declaring winners in elections involving those candidates.
The ADC made the demand in a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, following reports that more than 600 senior lecturers from public universities across northern Nigeria had endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election.
According to the party, although academics have the constitutional right to support candidates of their choice, publicly declared political affiliations could raise questions about their neutrality if they are later appointed as election officials.
“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 ADC said.
The opposition party urged INEC to develop and publicly disclose clear criteria for screening prospective returning and collation officers, including provisions to exclude individuals who have openly endorsed candidates, participated in partisan political activities or demonstrated clear political affiliations.
It also called on the electoral commission to publish the names of proposed returning and collation officers well ahead of the elections.
The ADC said early publication of the names would give political parties and members of the public sufficient opportunity to scrutinise the appointments and raise legitimate concerns over possible conflicts of interest.
“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.
The ADC further warned that Nigerians should not be placed in a situation where individuals who have publicly taken sides in an election are subsequently expected to act as neutral arbiters.
The party said its demand was not aimed at restricting the political rights of academics but at protecting the credibility of the electoral process and strengthening public confidence in the outcome of the 2027 elections.
