The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will investigate allegations of partisanship against university lecturers who may be engaged as electoral officials for the 2027 general elections.
The Commission’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Ita-Messi, disclosed this while responding to concerns over the possible involvement of lecturers who have openly expressed support for political candidates.
The concerns followed an endorsement made during an interactive session convened by the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari, in Kaduna.
The meeting, held at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Centre, brought together senior academics, government officials and political actors to assess the performance of the Tinubu administration and discuss Nigeria’s political direction ahead of the 2027 elections.
Ita-Messi said the engagement of university lecturers as electoral officials remained part of INEC’s policy but acknowledged that reports concerning alleged partisan conduct would be examined.
“Engaging lecturers is a Commission policy,” she said.
She added that INEC would assess the reports, establish whether the allegations were valid and take appropriate action based on its findings, with any decisions made public.
Her comments followed concerns from opposition figures and political platforms, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), about the suitability of lecturers for sensitive electoral duties amid allegations of political partisanship.
Atiku had warned against using partisan lecturers as electoral officials, while Peter Obi, through his Media Office, expressed concern that university lecturers who are appointed as Collation and Returning Officers could openly take partisan positions.
In a statement on Tuesday, spokesman for the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), Idris Zekeri, said the development represented what he described as an early attempt to establish and legitimise a network of partisan actors ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The ADC also raised concerns in a statement issued on Monday and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi.
The party said academics, like other Nigerians, have a constitutional right to support political candidates, but argued that lecturers who have publicly taken partisan positions should not be assigned sensitive electoral responsibilities that could affect elections involving candidates they support.
The ADC called on INEC to establish and publish clear criteria for selecting Returning and Collation Officers. It also urged the Commission to put safeguards in place to prevent people who have publicly endorsed candidates or participated in partisan political activities from being assigned sensitive election duties.
The party further asked INEC to publish the names of proposed Returning and Collation Officers early enough to allow political parties and members of the public to raise legitimate concerns over possible conflicts of interest.
According to the ADC, the credibility of an election depends not only on voters and candidates but also on the neutrality of officials responsible for administering elections, collating results and declaring outcomes.
The controversy has also drawn a response from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which distanced itself from the reported endorsement.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, said the union remained apolitical and had never endorsed any political party or candidate.
He said individual university lecturers were free to belong to political parties or support candidates in their personal capacities, but such activities should not be attributed to the union.
Piwuna maintained that ASUU would not support any candidate and stressed that the reported endorsement should not be interpreted as the position of the union.
The controversy comes as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections, with political parties and interest groups increasingly mobilising support for their preferred presidential candidates.
The ADC’s demand has consequently renewed attention on how INEC selects university lecturers and other professionals for sensitive electoral responsibilities.
