2023 Nigerian Elections : UNILAG Announces Lecture-Free Weeks

 In order to allow students to participate in the presidential and governorship elections, the administration of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, has granted weeks without lectures.

 

In the revised academic calendar, UNILAG declared a lecture-free week from Thursday, February 23rd to 27th to enable students to vote during the presidential election on Saturday, February 25th.

The University Senate also declared Thursday, March 9th to 13th, a lecture-free week to allow the students to vote during the gubernatorial election on Saturday, March 11th.

 

Students at UNILAG would be able to vote in the presidential, national assembly, governorship, and state house of assembly elections thanks to the proclamation of lecture-free weeks in February and March.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reported that 40% of newly registered voters for the general elections in 2023 are students.

The chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had said 7.2 million new voters are youths and are between 18 to 34 years while 3.8 million (40.8 percent) were students.

The academic calendars for the majority of tertiary institutions for the 2021–2022 academic year showed that no time had been set out for students to take a break and cast their votes at various polling places.

The Senate and Academic Board of universities and polytechnics, according to some professors, should be in charge of calling a break in class so that students can cast their ballots.

Also, worried by the situation, the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) had earlier called for two weeks break to allow students to vote during the February 25th and March 11th presidential and governorship elections.