The President of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, Deji Adeleke, has said the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot be held solely responsible for election rigging in Nigeria.
Adeleke made the remarks on Sunday during the university’s 12th undergraduate and eighth postgraduate convocation ceremonies held in Ede, Osun State.
He called on all stakeholders to work together to strengthen the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process.
Adeleke blames collusion at polling units
According to Adeleke, some National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members deployed for election duties and police officers assigned to provide security at polling units often collude to manipulate election results.
He said such actions contribute significantly to electoral malpractice across the country.
Adeleke said:
“People die, there is violence during elections. They have killed young people like you graduating today who might become adult staff of INEC, changing figures.”
He added:
“You cannot blame that on the INEC chairman when youth corps members are collecting ₦50,000 and changing figures at the polling unit.”
‘INEC chairman cannot be everywhere’
Adeleke argued that it is impossible for the INEC chairman to personally supervise every polling unit during elections.
Using the forthcoming Osun State governorship election as an example, he noted that the state has thousands of polling units.
He said:
“Even if the INEC chairman is a spirit, is he going to be at all the polling units in Nigeria?”
He continued:
“Very soon we are going to have an election in Osun State. Osun State has 3,763 polling units. Is it humanly possible for the INEC chairman to be at all those polling units at the same time?”
According to him, electoral officials and security personnel must carry out their responsibilities with integrity.
He said:
“But they have entrusted it to young people like you, and yet they will collect money and change the figures. We also have policemen with children who need a good country to have a future, aiding and abetting the rigging process, and people are killed just because of elections.”
Calls for electoral integrity
Furthermore, Adeleke warned that a flawed electoral process damages Nigeria’s image and undermines public confidence in democracy.
He said the international community would continue to view Nigeria negatively if election manipulation persists despite the country’s human potential.
Adeleke said:
“So, it’s very painful when you see these things happen because of ignorance of the implications of what people do on election day or the ignorance of judges perverting justice.”
He added:
“The implication is that Nigeria will continue to regret it if it doesn’t change immediately. But it’s not too late for us to change. It’s never too late to start all over.”
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