Oditah: Academic Title Alone Doesn’t Qualify One to Be INEC Chairman

According to Fidelis Oditah, a former candidate for governor of Delta State, a person should not be eligible to serve as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) merely because they are a professor.

His comments come after Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the election body’s head, bowed out.

Speaking on Channels Television, he brought up the fact that two academics in Akwa Ibom were found guilty of election fraud in 2019.

He added that he has nothing against professors, but argued that selections should not be chosen purely on the basis of academic titles.

I don’t want to belittle or denigrate academics, but it’s crucial to stress that merely being a professor and having expertise in a certain field of study does not make one eligible to serve as INEC chairman, much less an INEC commissioner.

Naturally, we also recall that two academics in Akwa-Ibom State were found guilty of engaging in fraudulent electoral activities during the 2019 elections.

We must exercise caution when assuming that being a professor is a prerequisite in and of itself.

“I believe we need to exercise caution. The appointment of professors alone, in my opinion, is not the answer. Nothing is wrong with them. He declared, “I have nothing against professors.”