The President of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, and businessman, Deji Adeleke, has called on Nigerians and key stakeholders to work collectively toward building a more credible electoral system.
Adeleke made the call during the university’s 12th undergraduate and eighth postgraduate convocation ceremonies held at the institution’s campus in Ede on Sunday.
According to him, no matter how capable the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may be, one individual cannot completely prevent electoral malpractice across the country.
He alleged that some National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members assigned to electoral duties, as well as some security personnel deployed during elections, sometimes participate in altering results at polling units.
“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.
“You cannot blame that on the INEC chairman when youth corps members are collecting N50,000 and changing figures at the polling unit.
“Even if the INEC chairman is a spirit, is he going to be at all the polling units in Nigeria?
“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?
“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,” Adeleke said.
He warned that a compromised electoral system could have long-term consequences for Nigeria’s development, adding that the country’s global reputation suffers whenever elections are manipulated.
Adeleke noted that despite the intelligence and abilities of Nigerians, electoral irregularities continue to create a negative perception internationally.
“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. 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.”
Earlier in his address, the Vice-Chancellor of Adeleke University, Prof. Solomon Adebola, highlighted the institution’s progress since it was founded in 2011.
Adebola disclosed that the university admitted 1,554 students into different undergraduate and postgraduate programmes during the 2025/2026 academic session.
He also announced that the university had received approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC) to introduce Medicine (MBBS) and Pharmacy (Pharm.D) programmes, with admissions expected to begin in the 2026/2027 academic session.
Speaking on the graduating class, the Vice-Chancellor revealed that 1,375 students from the College of Postgraduate Studies and six undergraduate faculties were awarded degrees.
“For the undergraduate students, the best graduating students are Ejiofor Onyinyechukwu Sonia from the Department of Medical Laboratory Science with a CGPA of 5.00 and Kinosi Victor Oluwagbemiga from the Department of Economics with a CGPA of 5.00.
“The best overall Master’s graduate is Olunlade Joshua Oluwafisayo, Master in Mechanical Engineering, with a Cumulative Weighted Average (CWA) of 80.02, while the best overall Ph.D graduate is Ukenyi Chibunna Godspower, Ph.D in Religious Studies (New Testament), with a Cumulative Weighted Average (CWA) of 77.32.”
Adebola encouraged the graduates to view their academic achievement as the beginning of a new journey and to move into the next stage of life with confidence and determination.