From Abubakar Sadiq Mohd Zaria
Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has said academics are vanguard of elections, not riggers.
Speaking through the Head of the Department of Political Science and International Studies, Dr. Rahanatu Lawal, said at no time did he refer to academics as riggers of elections in Nigeria.
The clarification is based on the VC being quoted as saying that he “shivers when he hears academics brag of rigging election”.
However, Dr Lawal said the department organized the 3rd International Conference on sustainable elections between 9th and 12th July 2023 where the VC was said to have made the statement.
She added: “We have the audio clip, which was an interview he granted to journalists after the opening ceremony of the conference.
“After listening to the audio clip, the department discovered that the VC, Prof. Kabiru Bala, never said anything like that; in fact, he said exactly the opposite.”
Against what was reported, she said, the VC commended the performance of academics that participated in the last elections, and others before it, especially those from ABU.
The VC, according to her, called on stakeholders to give academics a free hand if they want elections to be sanitised.
He emphasised that the actions of a few academics can never be the basis of generalisation.
She said: “On the strength of the foregoing, we call on all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard the initial report, as evidence contained in the audio clip points to the fact that, the VC has at no time said what was attributed to him.”
