Obi Media Office Says Tinubu Endorsement By 600 Lecturers Is Plan To Rig 2027

The Peter Obi Media Office has said the endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election by over 600 university academics is a grand plan to rig the 2027 general election.

Over 600 lecturers from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory endorsed Tinubu for a second term in office at the weekend.

The Obi Media Office described the development as “profoundly troubling”, saying it signified an early attempt to build and legitimise a network of partisan actors ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Idris Zekeri, the office said the academics were not merely private citizens expressing their political preferences, but belonged to an institution that had frequently provided electoral officials, including returning officers.

It said the lecturers’ public backing for the incumbent raised a serious question about whether the framework for manipulating the 2027 election was already being established.

“Electoral rigging does not suddenly occur on election day; it begins months or even years earlier through the identification, cultivation, and placement of individuals capable of influencing the process when votes are finally cast,” the statement said.

The office urged Nigerians to remain vigilant, arguing that when academics who might be assigned sensitive electoral responsibilities openly endorse the candidate whose election they could later help oversee, the risk of conflict of interest becomes evident.

It said this could compromise the electoral process and undermine public trust in those who may be responsible for collating or announcing election results.

The Obi Media Office urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to release the names of all the academics involved in the endorsement and formally prohibit them from serving as returning officers, collation officers or electoral staff during the 2027 general elections.

It also called on INEC to publish the complete list of prospective collation and returning officers well ahead of future elections, saying this would allow civil society organisations, political parties and the public to assess their political neutrality.

The office further urged university governing councils and academic bodies nationwide to adopt strict conflict-of-interest rules to prevent staff from using their professional academic positions to facilitate partisan political mobilisation.

“Nigerians are watching. The machinery for rigging must not be allowed to take root before the election even begins. The people must choose their leaders, and the outcome must be decided by their votes—not by a pre-arranged electoral network,” the statement added.