Joash Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says he never owned or operated an X account allegedly used to express support for the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general election.
Amupitan also said the controversy had been reported to the Department of State Services (DSS), and the office of the Inspector-General of police, adding that an independent report on the subject has been obtained.
He spoke on Thursday during a dialogue at Chatham House in London, organised in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative, with the theme, “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot”.
BACK STORY
The controversy stemmed from allegations that an X account bearing the handle @joashamupitan belonged to the electoral chief and had expressed support for the APC during the 2023 general election.
The account reportedly replied to a post by Dayo Israel, the APC national youth leader, celebrating the party’s victory in a predominantly Igbo community in Lagos, with the words, “Victory is sure”.
INEC had, however, dismissed the claims, describing them as fabricated and part of an attempt to undermine the credibility of its chairman and the commission.
The controversy had also drawn comments from Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who defended Amupitan against allegations of political bias.
Speaking at the inauguration of the corporate headquarters of the National Revenue Service in Abuja, Akpabio said the phrase “Victory is sure” did not expressly indicate support for any political party.
‘I DON’T HAVE X ACCOUNT’
Responding to a question on whether an independent investigation had established that he was not behind the account, Amupitan said: “We have an independent report, and the matter was also reported to the DSS as well as to the IG.”
The INEC chairman insisted that he had never operated an X account, explaining that his attempts to contact the social media platform to address the allegation were unsuccessful because he was not a user.
“I never had an X account. I tried to get in touch with X, but there’s no way if you don’t have an account,” he said.
He added that some civil society organisations also indicated interest in investigating the allegation.
“I have my Yahoo mail. I check Yahoo mail. It was never my account. And that is the truth,” he said.
Amupitan suggested that the controversy was part of attempts to discredit him and undermine the electoral commission, linking its emergence to a court ruling concerning the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the interpretation of the status quo ante bellum order.
“Remember the background. That issue came up when the court ruled that ADC had an issue, and the concept of status quo ante bellum. I don’t want to go back into it. But at the same time, it came about that time,” he said.
He added that the allegations were intended to weaken public confidence in the commission by targeting its chairman.
“The only way that people could bring down an institution was to say, ‘Oh, this person,’” he said.
The INEC chairman also dismissed other allegations previously made against him, including claims that he was a member of President Bola Tinubu’s legal team and that he had made false claims about his educational background.
He said investigations by the DSS and the police found the allegations to be unfounded.
“There were several accusations before then. For instance, that I was a member of the legal team of the president, that I said I went to school, but that is not true. They were investigated and discovered not to be true. So there were also investigations from DSS, from the police. And those things were not true,” he said.
Amupitan expressed confidence in the commission’s preparations for the 2027 general election, saying the exercise would be one Nigerians would be proud of.
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