The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, is currently in the middle of a storm with the resurface of partisan comments he purportedly made in support of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general elections.
The issue came to the fore on Saturday following a column published by US based Nigerian scholar, Farooq Kperogi, alleging that archived posts from an X account bearing Amupitan’s name revealed pro APC sentiments, including expressions perceived as supportive of President Bola Tinubu.
Kperogi, who shared excerpts of the column on his X handle, argued that the alleged posts undermine public confidence in the neutrality of the electoral umpire and called on the INEC chairman to resign.
In one of his tweets in the account whose identity has now been changed, Amupitan wrote, “Victory is sure!” while reacting to a post by Dayo Israel, National Youth Leader of the APC.
Details from the publication instantly generated a wave of reactions from Nigerians on social media, with opinions sharply divided over the authenticity of the old tweets.
Taking up the discourse via a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, African Democratic Congress (ADC) said, “The recent revelation linking a pro-Bola Ahmed Tinubu tweet of 2023 to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Amupitan, is not merely disturbing, it is a grave affront to the integrity of our electoral system.
“In a democracy, the umpire must be above suspicion. He must not only be independent, he must be seen, beyond any reasonable doubt, to be independent. That is the minimum standard required of anyone entrusted with the sacred duty of conducting free and fair elections.
“However, more troubling is the desperate attempt to tamper with digital records, to erase evidence of his previous partisanship. This is not a trivial matter. It is a calculated assault on truth and accountability.
“A man who manipulates records to save himself cannot be trusted to safeguard the mandate of millions. Over the past few days, it has been repeatedly revealed that Professor Amupitan, by his conduct, his utterances, and now by incontrovertible digital evidence, has fallen far below the standard expected of an electoral umpire. The referee cannot be running around in the shirt of one of the teams he’s supposed to officiate in a match.
“This is why Professor Amupitan must resign. Now. Anything less is an insult to the Nigerian people and a dangerous precedent for our democracy. Relying on this evidence, ADC will be updating our petitions to all relevant institutions, including to foreign governments and the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA.
“We will also renew and escalate our civil disobedience action until the INEC Chairman leaves office,” the main opposition party said.
