Academics Assisting Election Rigging: Obi's Scathing Remark Sparks Debate

Presidential candidate Peter Obi's recent assertion that Nigerian professors are aiding illiterates in election rigging has sparked concern. Obi claims these academics engage in such practices for personal financial gain, a situation that tarnishes Nigeria's reputation on the global stage. The irony lies in the highly educated serving the unethical needs of the less educated.

Experts suggest that greed, rather than the literacy level of the recipients, motivates these professors. They are reportedly working for the highest bidder, regardless of the implications for the country. This self-serving conduct appears to be a persistent issue, drawing condemnation from various quarters.

Peter Obi is not the first to voice such criticisms. Earlier this year, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, former Vice-Chancellor of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, called for an end to the practice of engaging Nigerian professors in election duties. He argued that this eagerness has significantly diminished the status of high-ranking academics.

Nwajiuba recalled instances where respected academics allegedly compromised their reputations while serving as electoral officials for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He cited a specific 2019 governorship election where a Vice-Chancellor with advanced degrees in mathematics struggled with basic calculations related to vote counts, an embarrassing situation witnessed by foreign partners. The article implies that such poor performance, including returning officers struggling to read their own figures, is not uncommon.

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we saw in a governorship election in 2019, a Vice-Chancelor who obtained a first class in mathematics, with a PhD in mathematics and who became a professor of mathematics, but unable to correctly work out, two-thirds of 27 local government areas of a state…. at a review of the 2019 elections, in a meeting held at Radisson Blue Hotel Ikeja, with foreign partners present, it was truly embarrassing.