NEWS
INEC to Probe Partisan Activities of University Lecturers Ahead of 2027 Elections
— Vows Action After Lecturers Declare Support for APC
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to examine concerns surrounding the political activities of university lecturers who may be recruited to perform sensitive electoral duties during the 2027 general elections.
The development follows growing concerns over the participation of academics in partisan political activities, particularly after more than 600 senior academics from public universities across Northern Nigeria publicly declared support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs Victoria Ita-Messi, disclosed that the Commission would review reports concerning lecturers accused of openly taking partisan positions and determine whether any further action would be necessary.
“Engaging lecturers is a Commission policy,” Ita-Messi said.
She explained that while the engagement of university lecturers remained part of INEC’s established policy for election-related duties, allegations involving individual academics would be subjected to scrutiny rather than being disregarded.
According to her, the Commission would examine the reports, establish the facts surrounding the allegations and take appropriate decisions based on its findings. She added that whatever decision the Commission eventually reached would be made public.
The controversy was triggered by a political gathering held in Kaduna, where senior academics declared their support for President Tinubu’s bid to remain in office after the 2027 presidential election.
The academics were brought together at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Centre by Ibrahim Masari, Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters. The engagement focused on the performance of the Tinubu administration, developments across key sectors and Nigeria’s political direction ahead of the 2027 general elections.
During the gathering, the academics said they reviewed developments in the economy, security, education, infrastructure and other areas before arriving at their decision to support the President.
“We resolved to express our support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in the 2027 presidential election,” they said.
However, the academics made it clear that their declaration of support was not intended to amount to unconditional endorsement of every policy of the Federal Government.
“Our support should not be interpreted as a blank check,” the academics stated, while demanding stronger measures to address insecurity, unemployment, rising food prices and transportation costs.
The declaration has subsequently generated questions over the suitability of academics who openly identify with political candidates for sensitive electoral assignments.
University lecturers are among the categories of professionals regularly considered by INEC for important election duties, including appointments as Returning Officers and Collation Officers, positions that can place officials directly within the process of collating, declaring and transmitting election results.
Against this background, opposition political figures have questioned whether lecturers who have publicly declared support for a particular presidential candidate can maintain sufficient public confidence in their neutrality if they are subsequently appointed to sensitive electoral positions.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar was among those who expressed concern over the possible deployment of lecturers with openly partisan positions as electoral officials.
Peter Obi also raised similar concerns through his media office. His spokesman, Idris Zekeri, questioned the propriety of academics who could potentially be entrusted with electoral responsibilities publicly declaring support for political candidates.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) also weighed into the controversy, calling on INEC to provide greater transparency in the criteria used to select Returning and Collation Officers.
The party acknowledged that university lecturers, like other Nigerian citizens, have constitutional rights to participate in political activities, belong to political parties and support candidates of their choice.
However, the ADC argued that academics who had publicly endorsed candidates should not be assigned electoral responsibilities where their perceived neutrality could become a source of controversy or undermine confidence in the electoral process.
The party further urged INEC to publish the names of proposed Returning and Collation Officers before elections, arguing that such disclosure would give political parties and members of the public an opportunity to raise concerns where potential conflicts of interest are identified.
According to the party, public confidence in an election is influenced not only by the conduct of candidates and voters but also by the perceived independence and neutrality of officials responsible for administering the process and declaring results.
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has moved to distance itself from the Kaduna declaration, stressing that the participation of individual academics in partisan politics should not be interpreted as the position of the union.
ASUU President, Prof Chris Piwuna, said individual lecturers were free to participate in political activities within the law but emphasised that the union itself remained politically neutral.
“We will never take such positions, going by our constitution. They cannot mention ASUU. Nobody can mention ASUU in that context because we’re apolitical,” Piwuna said.
He explained that lecturers could belong to political parties and support candidates in their individual capacities without such activities representing the position of ASUU.
“Our members can belong to any political party that they want. They can do whatever they want to do under the law. We have never, and we will never endorse any political party candidate. Nobody should drag us into such things,” he said.
Piwuna also rejected attempts to associate ASUU with political activities undertaken by individual lecturers or university administrators.
“It is misleading because ASUU has not sent anybody outside to participate in the electoral duties or serve as electoral officers,” he said.
The Kaduna meeting itself was presented by the participating academics as an assessment of the Tinubu administration and its performance since assuming office.
While expressing support for the President’s re-election, the academics acknowledged that some of the Federal Government’s economic policies had contributed to hardship among Nigerians, particularly through increased living and transportation costs and inflation.
At the same time, they said they had identified developments they considered significant in areas such as education financing, agriculture, infrastructure, business support, investment and the digital economy.
They also called for increased investment in critical sectors, including education, healthcare, roads, electricity and agriculture, while urging the government to adopt a broader and more effective strategy for addressing insecurity.
With INEC now set to examine the concerns raised over lecturers who openly engage in partisan political activities, attention is likely to remain focused on how the Commission balances its established policy of engaging academics for electoral duties with the need to sustain confidence in the neutrality of officials handling sensitive stages of the 2027 electoral process.