Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has defended the involvement of academics in Nigeria’s electoral process, asserting that they have consistently upheld integrity and resisted bribery attempts by politicians.
Speaking on Thursday at The Platform, a socio-political event marking Nigeria’s Democracy Day and hosted by Covenant Nation in Lagos, Jega, a former Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, highlighted the crucial role professors have played in restoring credibility to the electoral system.
During his tenure as INEC Chairman from 2010 to 2015, Jega introduced the deployment of vice-chancellors and university professors as returning officers and ad hoc electoral staff—a practice that continues today.
He noted, “When we arrived at INEC, the electoral system was in a deplorable state. Being co-chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors at the time, I engaged university vice-chancellors to nominate credible academic staff based on transparent selection criteria. That’s how we began using academics in elections.”
He added that after the 2011 elections, professional bodies such as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) expressed interest in participating in the process. However, INEC chose to maintain the use of academics due to the exceptional integrity they had demonstrated.
“Why change something that clearly works?” Jega asked. “Professors, especially vice-chancellors nearing retirement after decades of service, are unlikely to jeopardise their reputations over election matters.”
While acknowledging the prosecution of a few academics for electoral misconduct, Jega cautioned against generalising these isolated incidents. “Of course, politicians attempt every possible inducement,” he said. “But the fact that only one or two professors have been prosecuted for electoral offences is statistically insignificant and should not overshadow the vast contributions of academic professionals.”
He stressed that these exceptions should not be used to discredit the entire academic community’s involvement in the electoral process.
Jega currently serves as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Sa’adatu Rimi University of Education in Kano State, and is a member of the International Elections Advisory Council.
Notably, two professors have recently been convicted for electoral offences. In April 2025, the Court of Appeal in Calabar upheld the conviction of Professor Peter Ogban of the University of Calabar, who was sentenced to three years in prison for manipulating election results during the 2019 senatorial election in Akwa Ibom North-West.
Likewise, in February 2025, a State High Court in Akwa Ibom sentenced Professor Ignatius Nduk of the University of Uyo to three years in prison for falsifying results in the 2019 Essien Udim State Constituency election.
Despite these cases, Jega insisted that the overall integrity and credibility academics bring to Nigeria’s elections remain unparalleled.