2027: UNILAG flags off 9-month diploma programme on election monitoring

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The University of Lagos (UNILAG), through its Human Resources Development Centre, has officially launched a nine-month professional diploma programme on Election Monitoring and Administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Abuja, the Programme Coordinator, Dr. Ben Onwudinjo, said the initiative was designed to build a new generation of technically sound election monitors, administrators, and observers who would contribute to credible electoral processes in Nigeria and beyond.

“It gives me much pleasure to address members of the press on the commencement of academic activities for the nine-month professional diploma in Election Monitoring and Administration organized by the Human Resources Development Centre, University of Lagos, which kicks off from 12 October 2025,” Onwudinjo announced.

According to him, the Praxis College of Engineering and Technology is providing institutional support for the programme, which has already attracted interest from a wide range of participants — including party agents, human rights activists, NGOs, civil society organisations, political aides, researchers, and aspiring election observers.

“We find it heartwarming that candidates who show interest in this programme range from technical staff, interested in serving in the 2027 general elections as local and international election monitors and observers, to party agents, human rights activists, NGOs, civil society organisations, special aides to governors, ministers, senators, and members of the federal and state assemblies,” he said.

Onwudinjo stressed that the programme was developed to “boost the capacity and operations of technical staff to learn modern techniques and pitfalls in election monitoring and administration,” ensuring that the 2027 general elections become “the best ever in the annals of democracy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He revealed that the university had assembled a rich pool of facilitators, including experts from the United Nations, seasoned election monitors, professors from all six geopolitical zones, the Nigerian Bar Association, and international NGOs. “They will prepare participants in line with international best practices,” he said.

Upon completion, successful candidates would be awarded a Professional Diploma Certificate in Election Monitoring and Administration during UNILAG’s next convocation, and will be eligible to serve as election observers, consultants, and policy analysts.

“For posterity’s sake and for fairness and justice, we have written to all governors, members of the Senate, House of Representatives, Speakers of State Assemblies, ministers, and political stakeholders, requesting them to send in their technical staff for this programme,” Onwudinjo disclosed.

He explained that each of the 36 state governors had been allotted one hundred admission slots, while every senator had twenty spaces reserved for their nominees. Members of the House of Representatives are entitled to ten slots each, and members of the State Houses of Assembly are entitled to four. Private citizens and political stakeholders, he added, may also nominate up to fifty candidates each to participate in the programme.

For flexibility, the programme will run part-time and online on Saturdays, with examinations conducted through Computer-Based Testing (CBT). Participants will undertake lectures, term papers, projects, field trips, and continuous assessments over two semesters.

“Successful candidates shall not only be awarded the Professional Diploma Certificate in Election Monitoring and Administration, but will qualify as consultants, public policy analysts, and also for career progression,” he said, adding that graduates will have access to their transcripts from UNILAG.

Onwudinjo also announced that four other professional diploma programmes would begin concurrently on October 12, 2025, to accommodate the capacity-building interests of non-politicians. These include programmes in Anti-Corruption Management and Administration, Security and Counter-Security Management and Administration, Public Administration and Governance, and Business Administration and Entrepreneurship.

He said relevant agencies, including the EFCC, DSS, Armed Forces, Police, FRSC, ministries, parastatals, and the organized private sector, had already been invited to nominate candidates for these programmes.

“All hands must always be on deck for the development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Onwudinjo said.