For the 2015 general election to be seen as free, fair and credible, only neutral returning officers should be hired by the electoral body to ensure the sanctity of both March 28 and April 11 elections.

To this end, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has been charged to ensure neutrality in the choice of all categories of electoral officers, especially returning officers to be engaged for the exercise ahead.

The Director, Media and Publicity for Oyo State PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, gave the charge in Ibadan yesterday, while reacting to allegation of outright bias leveled against the electoral commission by a group of academics in tertiary institutions in Oyo State known as ‘Oyo Academics Rise For Truth’ who were on a visit to the campaign office in Adamasingba to register their discontentment over the prejudice in the appointment of returning officers in the state in favor of the  All Progressives Congress (APC).

The PDP campaign spokesman said that any act of nepotism, favoritism, or bias of any such in the appointment of electoral officers would be stoutly resisted by the people of Oyo State, whom he said were already watching and on red alert for such act.

Therefore, Alhaji Olaosebikan said the INEC boss must thoroughly investigate and do all the necessary checks on all persons the commission intends to use for the highly sensitive work for the purpose of detachment and fairness.

The group led by certain Dr. Kolawole Olumuyiwa had alleged that the commission was exhibiting bias in the choice of returning officers in the state as it claimed that the ongoing recruitment exercise by INEC was in favor of the APC as all the persons shortlisted so far as state and local government returning officers in Oyo State were known APC apologists.

It further disclosed that the commission did a similar thing in 2011 when it appointed a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, “a known rabid supporter of ACN as the returning officer for the state in accordance with the dictate of the then candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, who later compensated the Professor with an appointment in his government”.

According to the academics, “the commission has also commenced another round of engaging chronic APC academics for the election exercise. We can say authoritatively that all the names being considered for returning officers are APC apologists. We have observed this and that is why we have come to you to use your good offices in alerting the president to call the INEC boss to order.

“It happened in 2011 when they appointed a UI Professor and co as returning officer and local government officers. We don’t want a repeat of this as it is not good for the academics and the nation at large. On our own, as members of the academic community, we have already placed our people on alert because we would not tolerate any act that would polarize and destroy the credibility of the academic community for the sake of personal gains of privileged individuals.

Olaosebikan who was joined by the Director of Youth Directorate for the campaign organization, Hon. Mike Okunlade, at the meeting assured them that the organization would ensure that their message got to all the relevant authorities and that the presidential campaign for Oyo State too would also do all within its power to see that INEC and all other agencies concerned with the elections do the right things with full compliance to all their rules of engagements.

He promised that President Goodluck Jonathan would continue to accord priority attention to education by ensuring that the welfare of both the academic and nonacademic staff of our tertiary institutions is adequately taking care of as well as prompt provision of adequate modern equipment and facilities in all tertiary institutions in the country

He therefore urged all the academic and nonacademic staff of all tertiary institutions in Oyo State and all education loving Nigerians to cast their votes for Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the March 28 election and not for the APC candidate whose secondary education certificate was questionable.‎

Source: THISDAY