Elochukwu Benjamin
Awka
The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to strengthen its screening process for the appointment of Returning and Collation Officers ahead of the 2027 general elections.
CHRICED’s call followed reports that more than 600 senior academics from public universities in Northern Nigeria endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for a second term at a meeting convened by Presidential Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari, in Kaduna.
Reports on the September 2026 meeting said the academics endorsed Tinubu’s 2027 bid after deliberations on the performance of his administration and the political future of the country.
In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Comrade Ibrahim Zikirullahi, CHRICED said academics have the constitutional right to participate in politics, but argued that recent partisan political activities by individuals who may subsequently be appointed to sensitive electoral positions could raise questions about their perceived neutrality.
The organisation said the issue was particularly important because Returning and Collation Officers are entrusted with the collation, declaration and transmission of election results.
According to CHRICED, an academic who has recently taken an open partisan position could face a potential conflict-of-interest concern if subsequently assigned responsibility for handling election results involving the political candidate or party they publicly supported.
The group stressed that the concern was not an assertion that academics were inherently dishonest, but that electoral authorities should put safeguards in place to protect both the integrity of the process and public confidence in election results.
CHRICED cited previous convictions involving university professors who served as electoral officers to argue that academic status alone should not be regarded as sufficient evidence of electoral impartiality.
“Professor Peter Ogban, who served as a Returning Officer during the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election, was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 for manipulating and falsifying election results. The Court of Appeal later upheld his conviction and sentence in April 2025.
“Similarly, Professor Ignatius Uduk of the University of Uyo, who served as a Returning/Collation Officer during the 2019 elections in Essien Udim State Constituency, was sentenced in February 2025 to three years imprisonment after being convicted of publishing false election results and perjury. He was acquitted on a separate charge of announcing false results.
“Although, these cases do not suggest that university academics are generally untrustworthy, they demonstrate the need for transparent selection procedures, effective conflict-of-interest safeguards and accountability for everyone entrusted with sensitive electoral responsibilities,” it said.
CHRICED called on INEC to publicly clarify the criteria it intends to use in selecting Returning and Collation Officers for the 2027 elections.
It also urged the commission to consider excluding individuals whose recent partisan activities could create a reasonable appearance of conflict of interest from sensitive result-management positions.
The organisation further demanded uniform standards for the recruitment and deployment of electoral officers across the country, saying the same rules should apply irrespective of region, university affiliation or political party.
CHRICED maintained that the credibility of the 2027 elections would depend not only on preventing actual electoral malpractice but also on ensuring that those entrusted with handling votes are perceived as independent and impartial.
